Best IoT Operating Systems for Mac of 2025

Arm Mbed OS is an open-source operating system tailored for IoT applications, providing all the essential tools for creating IoT devices. This robust OS is equipped to support smart and connected products built on Arm Cortex-M architecture, offering features such as machine learning, secure connectivity stacks, an RTOS kernel, and drivers for various sensors and I/O devices. Specifically designed for the Internet of Things, Arm Mbed OS integrates capabilities in connectivity, machine learning, networking, and security, complemented by a wealth of software libraries, development boards, tutorials, and practical examples. It fosters collaboration across a vast ecosystem, supporting over 70 partners in silicon, modules, cloud services, and OEMs, thereby enhancing choices for developers. By leveraging the Mbed OS API, developers can maintain clean, portable, and straightforward application code while benefiting from advanced security, communication, and machine learning functionalities. This cohesive solution ultimately streamlines the development process, significantly lowering costs, minimizing time investment, and reducing associated risks. Furthermore, Mbed OS empowers innovation, enabling developers to rapidly prototype and deploy IoT solutions with confidence.

Contiki-NG is a free and open-source operating system designed for the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, emphasizing reliable and secure low-power communication along with standard protocols like IPv6/6LoWPAN, 6TiSCH, RPL, and CoAP. The platform is accompanied by comprehensive documentation, tutorials, a clear roadmap, and a structured development process that facilitates the integration of contributions from the community. By default, unless stated otherwise, the sources of Contiki-NG are available under the 3-clause BSD license, which permits users to utilize and share the code in both binary and source formats, provided that the copyright notice is preserved in the source materials. This licensing model supports an open collaborative environment that promotes innovation and community engagement in IoT development. Contiki-NG aims to foster a vibrant ecosystem for developers and users alike, ensuring that they can build upon and enhance the existing frameworks.

Raspberry Pi Imager offers a fast and straightforward method for installing Raspberry Pi OS along with various other operating systems onto a microSD card, making it ready for your Raspberry Pi. To understand the installation process, check out our brief 45-second video tutorial. Begin by downloading and installing Raspberry Pi Imager on a computer equipped with an SD card reader. Insert the microSD card intended for your Raspberry Pi into the reader and launch Raspberry Pi Imager. You can explore a variety of operating systems available from both Raspberry Pi and external providers, allowing you to download and install them manually as needed. This tool streamlines the setup process and enhances your Raspberry Pi experience.

At the core of every embedded operating system lies a kernel, which plays a crucial role in task scheduling and multitasking to guarantee that the timing demands of your application code are fulfilled, even as you frequently enhance and modify that code with new functionalities. However, Micrium OS offers more than just a kernel; it includes a variety of supplementary modules designed to assist you in addressing the specific requirements of your project. Furthermore, Micrium OS is available completely free for use on Silicon Labs EFM32 and EFR32 devices, allowing you to integrate Micrium’s high-quality components into your projects today without incurring any licensing costs. This accessibility encourages innovation and experimentation, ensuring that developers can focus on creating robust applications without the worry of financial constraints.

Ranging from basic embedded environmental sensors and LED wearables to advanced embedded controllers, smartwatches, and IoT wireless applications, this system incorporates configurable architecture-specific stack-overflow protection, kernel object and device driver permission tracking, and thread isolation enhanced by thread-level memory protection across x86, ARC, and ARM architectures, as well as userspace and memory domains. For systems lacking MMU/MPU and those limited by memory capacity, it enables the integration of application-specific code with a tailored kernel to form a monolithic image that can be loaded and run on the hardware of the system. In this setup, both the application and kernel code operate within a unified address space, facilitating efficient resource utilization and performance optimization. This design ensures that even resource-constrained environments can effectively leverage complex applications and functionalities.