Trend Micro Antivirus review: Impressive, when it works

There’s a certain value in an application not trying to do everything under the sun, but honing in on a set of tasks and performing them well. And while Trend Micro Antivirus for the Mac hasn’t included a ton of revolutionary new features since the last time we reviewed it (in 2023), and while you’re less likely to hear about the program given the company’s focus on the business environment and lack of a marketing blitz towards consumer and home users, there’s something good to be had here.

Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac requires macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) to download, currently retails for $29.95/£19.95 a year for one device for the first year (discounted from $39.99/£49.95 a year), and is also readily available as a 30-day trial with no credit or debit card needing to be sent along to Trend Micro.

We have tested all the best Mac antivirus software options in our round-up of the Best antivirus software for Mac.

Simply download the software, install it, and follow the prompts to add the iCore network extension, add the Safari and other web browser extensions, decide if you want to activate the Folder Shield feature, perform the initial virus definition updates, and allow the software to reboot. From there, Trend Micro will ask for permission to initiate full disk access to your Mac’s hard drive.

The user interface is identical to its previous versions, with the home screen focusing on its Overview, Web, Scans, Folder Shield, and Logs modules. Trend Micro Antivirus continues to focus on its bread and butter with what is honestly excellent antiviral protection.

Foundry

Upon hurling the Objective See Mac Malware collection at it, there was almost nothing that got through, the application recognizing the malware and deleting it, save for a fake Adobe Flash Player extension that installed and was later removed by the macOS operating system. This, combined with a handy scheduling feature that allows for daily, weekly, or monthly setup and execution, allows for the application to run on its own without needing to be babysat.  

There’s an interesting level of customization at work here, as Folder Shield offers boosted protection to assorted user folders (such as Documents, Music, Pictures, Movies, Dropbox, Mobile Documents, etc.), and you can create a Trusted Program list. It’s not crucial, but it’s fairly unique, and the application also scans inserted USB drives by default.

Foundry

The Web Protection module offers Privacy Scanner, Web Threat Protection, and Website Filter elements, which can block controversial content, such as pornography, etc., and users can also add trusted websites and blocked websites. 

If there’s one thing that impressed me, it was the quick access to the logs, which cover scan results, unsafe websites found, websites filtered, updates received, folder shield, and dangerous notifications found. While this version of Trend Micro Antivirus isn’t designed for the sysadmin market, there’s nothing more useful than system logs to see what’s going on, and the fact that these logs are pre-sorted comes in handy. 

For the final element of the Overview window, and as expected, the user interface hooks into ads for the company’s other wares from its home screen (“Privacy Tools” goes to Trend Micro VPN and “Utility Tools” hooks into its Cleaner One Pro, Unzip One, and AdBlock One utilities) which isn’t surprising, and is at least tucked out of the way as opposed to the application firing this into your eyeballs every two nanoseconds you use it. 

Foundry

Trend Micro has carved out something good here, even if there are a few wrinkles to iron out. The installation was a little trickier than expected, and you have to double-check the windows and options to make sure you’re enabling the right extensions, as opposed to an installer that does most of this for you. This gets a little bit tricky, but isn’t a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination.

Perhaps the most infuriating element to consider was the fact that the Web Protection feature, although well-hyped, does just about nothing to warn or protect you from websites associated with your spam folder, and I’m still able to go to sites offering me a free $1,000 prepaid Visa card, supposed free Bitcoin payouts, online casino gambling, etc.

Finally, and I’m not sure exactly what led to this, but Trend Micro Antivirus stated twice that full disk access hadn’t been granted during testing despite the settings being correct, and needed to be uninstalled and reinstalled twice. This may be a bug between Trend Micro Antivirus and macOS Sequoia 15.5, but it would behoove Apple and Trend Micro to swap notes, brew a few pots of coffee, and see exactly what’s happening that could lead to this. 

Should you buy Trend Micro Antivirus?

I’m not sure what led to the error and the need for reinstallation, but when the application works, it’s impressive. There was almost no malware I could get past it, the level of customization is impressive, and while I wish its Web Protection feature added warnings for clear scams and phishing attempts, Trend Micro Antivirus meets the needs of the consumer market it’s targeted towards quite well, there’s ready access to Trend Micro’s help and feedback boards from the Overview window, and the options for the company’s additional tools are present but not overwhelming in the sense that a marketing department had gone out of control.