McAfee Total Protection for Mac review – not as good as it should be

For years, the name McAfee has been synonymous with antiviral and security software. Its Total Protection suite for the macOS continues to be steadily updated and offers a good suite of anti-viral, anti-malware, identity protection, VPN, and scheduling tools. However, there are some issues. Here’s our review of McAfee Total Protection 2025.

The software, which requires macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later to install and run, is available at several subscription points, the Essential plan retailing for $39.99/£39.99 for the first year and protecting up to five devices, renewing at a higher price of $159.99/£159.99 a year. McAfee doesn’t offer a free trial, and asks for your credit or debit card information, but cites a 30-day money-back guarantee instead. 

Similar to its previous versions, McAfee Total Protection comes out swinging, complete with an easy download and installation process that prompts you to grant it full access to your Mac’s hard drive as well as low-level access to its fmpd, VShieldScanner, VShieldScanManager, and GenUtility system components. Once this is complete, the application’s tools are available via an icon in the macOS Menu Bar that can be quickly accessed on the fly. 

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There’s a fair amount worth liking with McAfee Total Protection 2025, and its bread and butter remains antiviral and antimalware protection, which the application handles admirably. There was almost nothing that could be put by the application’s Real-Time Protection feature, which also scans mounted external drives on the fly, and while malware can be pushed through and installed provided you disregard enough warnings, this feature dovetails well with macOS’s GateKeeper feature and does a good job of warning you as to suspect software.

A Custom Scan feature allows for easy targeting and scanning of specific folders and local volumes, and a good level of customization allows you to dictate the standard behavior (such as quarantine, deletion, etc) of suspect files.

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The Secure VPN client functions as a good, if somewhat bare-bones VPN that allows you to choose a location, activate it, and either enable or disable the VPN feature given whatever network you may be on. The client itself functions well, even if its overall feature and customization options may be a bit slim for hardcore VPN road warriors. 

Still, there’s work to be done. Perhaps the most worrying bug is the fact that my MacBook Pro’s performance became laggy after initially installing McAfee Total Protection 2025, and the lag didn’t cease until after I’d rebooted my Mac. From there, clicking on the Total Protection 2025 Menu Bar icon led to sporadic lag as well as a complete system freeze and crash that had to be rebooted from.

The lag remained sporadic, but it seems to highlight a lack of attention to detail, such as antiviral scans stating they’ve removed suspect files, but failing to state what the file names were or where they were located without returning to the home screen and then pulling up the History window from there, which seems to add about four extra steps when a quick link off the scan result page would have done perfectly. 

McAfee’s billing department seems happy to lead you towards annual payments. The ID Protection feature, which may be well-intended, comes across as an oddity wherein you have to fully commit to it, entering your credit card, bank account, tax ID, passport, national IDs, health IDs, email addresses, usernames, phone numbers, and date of birth to chase down and follow up on.

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This is complemented by receiving sporadic emails informing you that your information may have been compromised in a data breach, but the emails don’t seem to offer specifics as to the data breach; McAfee only offering the most basic web hygiene-esque advice to be wary around suspect websites and occasionally change your password.

This stands in stark contrast to a website like haveibeenpwned.com, wherein you can enter your email address, see exactly where your data’s been breached, and have an idea as to where to begin to change your passwords.

Finally, McAfee’s WebAdvisor feature hasn’t gotten much better over the years, the plug-in still allowing you to visit amazingly questionable websites linked from your spam folder with no warning or attempt to stop you at heading to a site that offers reverse mortgages on your grandma’s abode via cryptocurrency, and the fact that the WebAdvisor extension was last updated a year ago doesn’t inspire confidence. 

Should you buy McAfee Total Protection 2025? 

McAfee Total Protection 2025 pulls off its bread and butter features such as virus protection and basic VPN features yet again, but falters in terms of its ID protection, WebAdvisor functionality, system performance, and inelegant application design that feels as if you have to head back to the home screen to get to the log or history window you want to view. This feels as if it’s something that’s coasting on its past laurels as opposed to creating something useful, and while there wasn’t much that got by it in terms of viruses and malware, competing applications are offering the entire functionality of Total Protection 2025 and doing it better.

Perhaps McAfee doesn’t need the Mac market to survive, and that’s the honest truth, but it can still look over what it does right, what needs improvement, and build on this, even if it involves swallowing a little bit of pride to get there. 

You can also read about other packages we’ve reviewed in our roundup of the best Mac antivirus software. For the best prices right now read: Best cheap antivirus deals for Mac and for all the reasons to consider installing antivirus software on your Mac read Why Macs need antivirus software.