Alex Chen
Unboxing a Mac is fun for about ten minutes. Then you hit the same wall every time: the default dock is fine for a demo unit, useless for real work. Browser, notes, and Photos will not get you through a day of engineering, design, or writing.
This post is the list we install first. It is opinionated on purpose. We are not trying to cover every category on the App Store. We are trying to get a machine from “pretty laptop” to “I can actually work” in under an hour, using Homebrew so the setup is repeatable.
If you are new to Homebrew, read our guide to using Homebrew first. If you want a full stack without typing each cask by hand, build a bundle on Bundl and install everything with one command.
Every app below has to clear a few bars:
Cask IDs below match Homebrew. You can also open each app page on Bundl for metadata, alternatives, and related tools.
Raycast is the first thing we install. Spotlight is fine for opening apps. Raycast is better for the dozen micro-tasks you do between opens: clipboard history, window layouts, unit conversion, running scripts, jumping to Linear or GitHub, and extensions that plug into the tools you already use.
On a new Mac, the win is muscle memory. One hotkey, type a few characters, act. Once that loop is solid, everything else feels faster.
brew install --cask raycastmacOS still ships without serious window snapping. Rectangle fixes that with keyboard shortcuts that map cleanly to how developers already think: left half, right half, maximize, next display.
Amethyst and other tiling managers exist, and some people live in them. For a default machine, Rectangle is enough. It is free, light, and stays out of the way until you need it.
brew install --cask rectangleTerminal choice is personal, but you need a better default than the stock app on day one if you live in shells and SSH sessions.
Ghostty is our current default when we want a fast, modern terminal with solid defaults. iTerm2 remains the safe classic: profiles, splits, search, and years of muscle memory across teams.
Install one. Do not install three “just in case.” Pick a home and configure it once.
brew install --cask ghostty
# or
brew install --cask iterm2Whether your daily driver is Cursor, Zed, Neovim, or something else, Visual Studio Code is still the common denominator. Remote SSH, language servers, and “can you open this repo?” all go smoother when VS Code is present.
On a new Mac, we install it even if we plan to use another editor later. It is the reliable fallback.
brew install --cask visual-studio-codeDragging an app to the Trash leaves preference files, caches, and support folders behind. AppCleaner watches for that drag and offers to remove the related files. It is small, free, and prevents the slow rot of a machine you reinstall tools on often.
brew install --cask appcleanerWhen a fan spins up or a build pegs the CPU, you want the answer in one glance. Stats puts CPU, memory, disk, network, and battery into the menubar without turning into a full monitoring suite.
We prefer it over heavier paid menubar stacks for a first install. You can always add something more specialized later.
brew install --cask statsmacOS Preview handles some archives. The rest of the internet sends 7z, RAR, and multi-part bundles that the stock tools still handle poorly. Keka covers the formats you actually get from clients, CI artifacts, and random downloads.
brew install --cask kekaYou copy a token, then an error message, then a URL, and lose the first two. Maccy keeps a searchable local history. It is open source, stays out of the cloud by default, and replaces a paid clipboard manager for most people.
If Raycast’s clipboard history is enough for you, skip this. We still install Maccy on machines where clipboard search is a primary workflow.
brew install --cask maccymacOS app switching (Command-Tab) switches apps, not windows. That is fine until you have eight Chrome windows and three terminal windows and want the specific one from two minutes ago. AltTab gives you a clearer window picker.
brew install --cask alt-tabBuilt-in screenshots are good. Day-to-day product and support work needs crop, arrows, blur, and OCR without opening a full design tool. Shottr is free for personal use and fast enough that people stop avoiding screenshots.
brew install --cask shottrThese are not universal, but they appear on enough of our machines to mention:
brew install --cask orbstack karabiner-elements firefoxIf you want the baseline in a single install, this is the set we treat as non-negotiable on a general-purpose Mac:
brew install --cask raycast rectangle ghostty visual-studio-code \
appcleaner stats keka maccy alt-tab shottrSwap ghostty for iterm2 if that is your terminal preference. Add browser and container tools after the first reboot-and-login cycle so you are not juggling twenty installers at once.
Cask popularity changes. Apps get acquired, slow down, or ship bad updates. We revisit this list when we set up new hardware and when Homebrew casks we rely on break or get replaced. The 2026 edition still starts with launcher, window management, terminal, editor, cleanup, metrics, archives, clipboard, window switching, and screenshots. That shape has been stable for years even as the specific apps shift.
If you want this packaged with category filters and a generated Brewfile instead of copy-paste, use Bundl’s builder. Pick the apps, export the command, run it on the new machine, and spend your setup time on SSH keys and dotfiles instead of hunting downloads.
No full Adobe stack. No “cleaner” apps that promise to free 40 GB with magic. No menubar clutter that only looks useful in screenshots. No second password manager, second notes app, or second chat client “for evaluation.” Day one is for foundations. Evaluation is a later afternoon with a clear goal.
The goal of this list is boring reliability. After these casks are in place, the Mac stops fighting you. Then you can add the specialized tools your job actually requires—design suites, IDEs, VPN clients, lab software—without rebuilding the basics every time.