On a Mac, as on Windows, it is not one program that works but a pair: a client on the computer and whoever provides the servers. Below: which file to take for a MacBook, iMac or Mac mini, whether you need to know its processor, what to do if macOS will not open the file, and what we checked ourselves. Everything here is as of 30 September 2026.
In short. Mayak has no macOS app of its own yet, but you can connect right now: download the free Happ client — the
Happ.macOS.universal.dmg file from the developer’s page (one file for both a Mac with an Apple chip and a Mac with an Intel
processor), take the subscription link from your account and add it to Happ. Instead of Happ you can take INCY from the App Store. We checked Happ on a Mac with a live connection;
which macOS version and which chip it was, we did not write down.
We make Mayak — a private network. Our own app is for Android, and for Mac we give a subscription link for Happ and INCY. This article is about Mac; about us — just one section.
🍎 On iPhone Mayak works with the subscription link from your account, in Happ or INCY (INCY is in the Russian App Store): where to tap on iPhone.
Apple chip or Intel: do you need to know
For Happ — no. The Happ.macOS.universal.dmg file (about 137 MB) is a single one: Happ’s description on GitHub presents it as a build for arm64 and Intel. It suits both a Mac with an Apple chip and a Mac
with an Intel processor, so you do not have to choose between two files as you do on Windows.
You will need to know your processor if another client offers two files — one for the Apple chip and one for Intel. It is easy to look up: Apple menu → “About This Mac”. On a Mac with an Apple chip it names the chip model, on a Mac with Intel it names an Intel processor; more in Apple’s help.
Five steps: Happ and the subscription link
- Download
Happ.macOS.universal.dmgfrom Happ’s release page on GitHub. The “latest” link leads to the newest regular release — as of 30 September 2026 that is 4.3.0 of 15 September. We have not checked the pre-release builds (marked Pre-release, currently 4.4.x) and do not recommend them. - Open the file and install Happ. It is a disk image: then follow the window it shows (apps from an image are usually dragged into “Applications”). What exactly is drawn inside Happ’s image, we did not record.
- Start Happ. The first time you open an app downloaded from outside the App Store, macOS may ask whether you really want to open it — confirm. If you see a refusal instead of a question, read the next section.
- Take the subscription link and add it to Happ. Mayak keeps the link in your account: the “Connecting by link” card → “Show the link”. How to add it inside the app is described in the article on the Happ subscription (the “+” button and import from the clipboard); labels in the Mac version may differ. The app loads the list of servers by itself — they arrive under the name “Mayak Networks”, each with a country and a flag.
- Turn the connection on and pick a country.
The AmneziaWG settings file from your account will not do on a Mac: as the account itself says, “on iPhone, Mac and Windows third-party apps do not accept this file yet: it carries our traffic protection.” On a Mac the way to Mayak is the subscription link.
If macOS will not open the file
There are two different warnings, and Apple tells them apart in its help page “Safely open apps on your Mac”.
- A warning that the app was downloaded from the internet. The first time you open a new app from a known developer that you downloaded from outside the App Store, the Mac asks whether you are sure. It is an ordinary question — say yes.
- A warning that Apple could not check the app for malicious software. If you trust the source, Apple describes the order like this: System Settings → Privacy & Security → scroll down → “Open Anyway”, then “Open” in the new window. The app is saved as an exception, and afterwards it opens with an ordinary double-click.
Do this only with a file downloaded from the developer’s page — through the link in this article or in our account area. Whether macOS shows the second warning for Happ in particular, we do not know: we did not record it during the 25 September check.
INCY instead of Happ
The second option on a Mac is INCY from the App Store: according to our connection page, it is the same app as on iPhone. Buttons for both clients are gathered on the “Where to tap” page for Mac. A caveat: we did not check INCY on a Mac; on iPhone we checked it with a live connection on 22 September 2026 (what is in the Russian App Store). The subscription link is the same for both apps.
A MacBook: sleep, the lid and changing networks
A laptop sleeps and changes networks more often than a desktop Mac. On sleep, the notes for Happ release 4.3.0 have a line: fixed the VPN tunnel being lost after a Linux or macOS computer goes to sleep. The conclusion is simple: on 4.3.0 and newer that fault is fixed, by the developer’s word, and on older ones it may occur. We did not check sleep on a Mac ourselves.
If there is no connection after waking up, turn the connection off and on in Happ. The order for finding other causes is in “Happ not working”. And one thing that does not depend on the Mac: in the whitelist mode on mobile internet Mayak will not connect, neither with the app nor by link (why) — that includes a MacBook that gets its internet from a phone.
How to check that the Mac goes through the server
Open an IP-address check before you turn it on and after: the country and the address should change to the server’s country. That shows the browser goes through the server; the check says nothing about other programs: Happ’s description does not say whether it sends the whole computer through the server or only programs that read the system proxy settings, and we did not find out. The other checks, including a DNS leak, are in “How to check that a VPN works”. How to turn the connection off on macOS is in a separate section.
Mayak on a Mac: what there is now
- We have no macOS app of our own yet, and we give no dates.
- You can connect right now — Happ (or INCY) with the subscription link from your account.
- What comes in the link. The protocol is X-ray (VLESS with REALITY), the servers are ours; the app re-reads the list every three hours, so new servers arrive without you (what is in our link). One way to connect comes: there is no automatic trying of paths, as in our Android app, in a third-party client.
- A Mac and an iPhone are two devices. One link serves all your devices, but each takes a slot in the plan: “Start” — up to 3, “Family” — up to 5, “Max” — up to 10. What it costs is on the home page. The trial is 3 days on two devices after you confirm your email: a Mac and a phone fit in the trial together. If you also have a Windows laptop, there is a separate article on Windows.
- What we do not promise. That it “always works”: your network is your own, and the answer on it will be its own.
Try it on your own Mac. Create an account, open “Connecting by link” in your account area and add the link to Happ. We do not ask for payment details for the trial. A confirmed email opens the access — 3 free days. An email is optional: without one the trial is 1 day.
What we checked
- Happ on a Mac with a Mayak subscription link — with a live connection, 25 September 2026.
- Happ’s file and release — from the release page on GitHub, read on 30 September 2026: release 4.3.0 of 15 September,
Happ.macOS.universal.dmg(one build for Apple chip and Intel), the line about sleep in the release notes, the 4.4.x pre-release builds. - That third-party apps on Mac do not accept the AmneziaWG file — the text of our account area.
- How to find a Mac’s processor, and that macOS may ask when you first open a program from outside the App Store — from Apple’s help pages, read on 30 September 2026.
What we do not know
- Which macOS version and which chip our check ran on. Our owner checked it with a live connection but did not record the Mac model or the system version; Happ’s developer does not name a minimum macOS version.
- Which permissions macOS will ask of Happ on the first connection, and whether it will show the warning that Apple could not check the app. We did not record those windows.
- How the connection survives a Mac’s sleep. We did not check it; there are only the developer’s words in the release 4.3.0 notes.
- Whether Happ sends the whole Mac through the server. Its description says nothing about modes, and we did not find out: an IP check in a browser shows only the browser.
- How INCY behaves on a Mac. We did not check it on a Mac.
- When our own Mac app comes out. We give no dates.
- How the connection will behave on your network. Only you can see that — that is what the trial is for.
Short answers
Which VPN should I install on a MacBook? The Happ client plus a subscription link from a provider of servers. With Mayak: Happ (the Happ.macOS.universal.dmg file) with the link from your account — that is how we checked it on a Mac.
Do I need to know whether my Mac has an Apple chip or Intel? For Happ, no: one build serves both. Another client may need it — look at Apple menu → “About This Mac”.
macOS will not open the Happ file. What now? If it is the ordinary “are you sure?” question, agree. If Apple says it could not check the program, the order from Apple’s help is in the section above; do it only with a file from the developer’s page.
Does Mayak have a Mac app? Not of its own yet, and we give no dates. You can connect right now — through Happ or INCY with the subscription link.
Can one subscription cover a Mac and an iPhone? Yes. One link serves all your devices, and each takes a slot in the plan. On iPhone Happ or INCY works — more here.
How is a VPN on a MacBook different from one on an iMac or Mac mini? It is not: what matters is the system, not the case. Except that a laptop sleeps and changes networks more often.