How to Install PHP on macOS: Intel Chip and Apple Silicon(M1/M2/M3)

Prerequisites to Install PHP on macOS

Before installing PHP, let’s set up your Mac with an essential tool.

Install Homebrew

Setting Up Homebrew Package Manager

What is Homebrew? It’s like an “app store” for installing tools like PHP with simple commands. Let’s install it:

1. Open Terminal.
2. Paste this command and press Enter:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Follow the on-screen prompts (type your password if asked).

Checking brew command

To check that Homebrew works correctly, Open your Terminal and Type:

brew --version

Homebrew Version

If you see a version number, it’s ok, If not, and you are getting the ‘brew command not found’ error, you have to run below two commands to add Homebrew to your PATH:

For Apple Silicon(M1/M2/M3)

echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

For Intel Chip:

echo 'eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"

Finally, run this command to make sure everything is correct:

brew doctor

It will help you if you need to fix something.

Method 1: Install PHP on macOS Using Homebrew

Install PHP on Mac with Homebrew

Homebrew makes installing PHP as easy as running a few commands. Let’s do this step-by-step.

Step 1: Update Homebrew and Tap PHP Versions

Updating Homebrew ensures you get the latest PHP versions and fixes. Here’s how:

1. Open Terminal.
2. Update brew with running:

   brew update

3. Tap PHP’s official repository:

   brew tap shivammathur/php

This adds PHP versions to Homebrew’s menu. It’s better to run brew update  command monthly to stay updated.

Step 2: Install PHP via Homebrew

Time to install PHP! Replace php@8.3 with your preferred version (e.g., php@8.2):

1. In Terminal, run:

   brew install shivammathur/php/php@8.3

2. Wait 2-5 minutes (Homebrew handles everything).

Step 3: Configure PHP Path in macOS Terminal

To tell your Mac and also Compiler where to find the PHP you just installed, do this:

For Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 chips)

echo 'export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/php@8.3/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/php@8.3/sbin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

export LDFLAGS="-L/opt/homebrew/opt/php@8.3/lib"
export CPPFLAGS="-I/opt/homebrew/opt/php@8.3/include"

For Intel-based Macs

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/php@8.3/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/php@8.3/sbin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/php@8.3/lib" 
export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/php@8.3/include"

Step 4: Check PHP is Installed on your MacOS:

Restart Terminal to load new settings and then run the following command to check.

php -v

Check PHP Installation on macOS

If you see PHP version like 8.3.x, it’s correct.

The php.ini file is located in the following directory ( If you have a different PHP version, just replace 8.3 with your exact version):

/usr/local/etc/php/8.3/php.ini

Method 2: Manual PHP installtion on macOS

Install PHP on macOS Manually

Want full control? Let’s compile PHP from scratch! This method is perfect if you need a custom setup.

Downloading and Compiling PHP from Source

Here’s how:

1. Download PHP Source Code (e.g., PHP 8.2.1):
   • Open Terminal.
   • Run like this:

     curl -O https://www.php.net/distributions/php-8.2.1.tar.gz

2. Extract the Files:

   tar -xzvf php-8.2.1.tar.gz 
   cd php-8.2.1

3. Configure PHP:
   Run this command to enable common features (like MySQL and OpenSSL):

   ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/php \
    --with-apxs2=/usr/local/apache2/bin/apxs \
    --with-openssl \
    --with-zlib \
    --enable-mbstring \
    --enable-mysqlnd \
    --with-curl \
    --with-mysqli \
    --enable-fpm

4. Compile and Install:

   make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu) 
   sudo make install

Check if it worked: Type php -v. If you see the version, it’s installed successfully.

Configuring PHP for Apache/Nginx Integration

Time to connect PHP to your web server!

For Apache:

1. Open Apache’s config file:

   sudo nano /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

2. Look for LoadModule php_module and add:

   LoadModule php_module /usr/local/php/lib/libphp.so
    <FilesMatch \.php$>
         SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
    </FilesMatch>

3. Restart Apache:

   sudo apachectl restart

For Nginx:

1. Install PHP-FPM (if not done earlier):

   brew install php@8.2

2. Open your Nginx site config:

   sudo nano /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

3. Add this inside the server block:

   location ~ \.php$ { 
      fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000; 
      fastcgi_index index.php; 
      include fastcgi.conf; 
   }

4. Restart Nginx:

   sudo nginx -s reload

Test PHP

To check PHP is installed on your macOS:

1. Create a file:

   echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /Library/WebServer/Documents/info.php

2. Visit https://localhost/info.php in your browser. If you see a PHP details page—it’s success!

Method 3: Using Built-in PHP on Older macOS Versions (Before macOS 12, Monterey)

Install Built-in PHP on macOS

This method only works on macOS versions before Monterey (macOS 12). Apple removed the built-in PHP in newer versions..

Enabling Default PHP and Updating Modules

1. Enable Built-in PHP:
   • Open Terminal and run:

     sudo nano /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

   • Find this line:

     #LoadModule php7_module libexec/apache2/libphp7.so

   • Remove the # to uncomment it.
   • Save with ⌃O → Enter → ⌃X.
2. Restart Apache:

   sudo apachectl restart

3. Verify PHP:

   php -v

   If you see something like PHP 7.3.X, it’s working!

Updating PHP Modules

Warning: Updating macOS’s PHP is tricky, but here’s a workaround:

1. Install Missing Modules:

   • Install Xcode Command Line Tools

     xcode-select --install

   • Use pecl (PHP’s extension installer). For example, to add GD graphics library:

     sudo pecl install gd

   • Follow prompts if asked.
2. Link Extensions to Built-in PHP:
   • For GD, Open terminal and run:

     sudo nano /etc/php.ini

   • Find this line and uncomment and save it (remove ;):

     ;extension=gd

3. Check Active Modules:

   php -m

Test Your Setup:

1. Create a test file:

   echo "<?php echo 'Hello from macOS PHP!'; ?>" > ~/Sites/test.php

2. Visit https://localhost/test.php in your browser. If you see the message, it works!

Managing Multiple PHP Versions on macOS

Install multiple PHP versions on macOS

Need PHP 8.2 for one project and 7.4 for another? No problem!
Here we will install and manage multiple PHP versions together on your Mac.

Switching PHP Versions with Homebrew

Homebrew makes PHP version changing easy. Here’s how:

1. Install Multiple PHP Versions:

   brew install shivammathur/php/php@8.2
   brew install shivammathur/php/php@7.4

2. Switch Versions:

   brew unlink php

   brew link --force --overwrite php@7.4

3. Verify the Switch:

   php -v

   If it shows PHP 7.4.X, you’re right!

Tips: Use brew list | grep php to see all installed PHP versions.

Automate Switching Using brew-php-switcher

Instead of manually unlinking/linking, you can install a helper tool:

brew install brew-php-switcher

Now you can switch with:

brew-php-switcher 7.4

Test It: Close and reopen Terminal. Run php -v to confirm!

How to uninstall PHP completely from macOS?

To uninstall and remove PHP on your mac, follow the below steps:

For Homebrew PHP:

1. Uninstall PHP:

   brew uninstall php@8.2

2. Remove leftover files:

   brew cleanup

For Built-in PHP:

1. Revert Apache config:
   • Comment out LoadModule php_module... in /etc/apache2/httpd.conf.
2. Restart Apache:

   sudo apachectl restart

Conclusion

We learned how to install PHP on Mac devices with three different ways. Also learned to install multiple PHP versions together and choose one of them while developing every project.

Now you should be able to run your PHP codes on your macOS with no problems. If you also want to install PHP on Windows, we have an article for it.