Using the NI myDAQ on an Apple Computer with macOS

Updated Dec 30, 2022

Reported In

Hardware

  • myDAQ Student Kit

Software

  • LabVIEW

Driver

  • NI-DAQmx

Operating System

  • Mac OS X

Other

  • Apple MacBook
  • Apple MacBook Pro
  • Apple MacBook Air
  • Apple iMac
  • Apple Mac Mini

Issue Details

I have purchased an NI myDAQ and would like to use it with my Apple computer/laptop that has macOS, is this possible?

Solution

The NI myDAQ can be used on macOS but it has the following requirements;
  • macOS version 10.14 or below.
  • DAQmx Base driver 15.0.0 or below.
The DAQmx Base driver can be downloaded from here.

Additional Information

Although not officially supported, there have been reports of success using myDAQ with macOS using macOS Boot Camp and Virtual Machines (VM)

Using the Mac OS Boot Camp application to run Microsoft Windows on a Mac Computer

To run Microsoft Windows on your Mac computer that supports the macOS Boot Camp application and a licensed copy of the Microsoft Windows operating system. By running Windows using Boot Camp, you will be running the operating system natively on your computer, rather than inside a VM.

To install Microsoft Windows to your Mac computer and set up your NI myDAQ on your Mac, follow these steps;
  1. Follow the instructions from Apple for installing Boot Camp and Windows.  These instructions and other Boot Camp resources can be found on Apple's web site at: Apple - Support - Boot Camp.
  2. Follow the installation instructions for setting up your NI myDAQ.
 

Using VM environments to run Windows on a Mac Computer 

Some VM environments can be used to run Windows for a myDAQ on a Mac. These VMs include: Parallels, VMWare Fusion, and Virtual Box.

Note: NI testing with these VM environments have shown some performance limitations. This is mainly due to the emulation layer of USB and the amount of traffic between the VM and macOS.  These limitations may include: 
  • Hardware timed analog inputs may experience buffer overflows at high rates of speed on the myDAQ
  • Hardware timed analog outputs may experience buffer underflows or failure to write data.
  • Software timed I/O may experience a delay between request and read/write.
For more information on NI hardware with VMs, see Are NI Products Supported on Virtual Machines (VMs).