Cannot open Matlab 2023a after updating to MacOS 15.1

Hi everyone,

I'm using a MacBook Pro with M2 chip and I just updated my MacOS to 15.1. After updating, I found that I cannot open Matlab 2023a with the following error information:

The application “Dock” does not have permission to open “(null)”.

I guess this is related to the fact that 2023a is designed for x86 and the new OS might have some issue about emulation. Does anyone have a solution for this? Thanks a lot!

[지훈 전]

Exactly same situation with U!

[Samuel]

I had to reinstall it and then worked fine

[Nicola]

I did it but It doesn't work yet

[yizhen]

I reinstalled app and still couldn't open it, I take the solution at https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/2163080-why-do-i-see-the-error-the-application-dock-does-not-have-permission-to-open-null-when-starti#answer_1539425 , but still failed.

I try to start using the command line:/Applications/MATLAB_R2023b.app/bin/matlab

but output: env: /Applications/ MATLAB_R2023b.app /bin/maca64/path_per_install: No such file or directory

I have been tried 2021b, 2023a and 2023b, there is no way to open them. Do you have any other good suggestions????

[Agnes]

Only 2024a runs for me now but Psychtoolbox doesnt work with this new Matlab version (in case you need to use that..its madness).

[Harry Smith]

I had to update to R2024b

Answer 1

[Andrew Frane]

Here's what worked for me to open Matlab 2023a after updating to Sequoia 15.1:

• Locate the Matlab app in the Applications folder in the Finder.
• Right-click (or ctrl-click if you don't have a right mouse button) on the Matlab icon in that folder.
• In the menu that pops up, click on "Show Package Contents."
• In the folder that opens, double-click on the "bin" folder.
• In that folder, double-click on the file called "matlab" to open Matlab.

That opens Matlab using the Terminal (and can be equivalently done by typing the address of the matlab file into the Terminal). Therefore, it may take a minute to get Matlab to open, and it requires you to leave the Terminal app open while using Matlab. But after Matlab is open you can have the Terminal relinquish control of Matlab (for that session) by pressing ctrl-z in the Terminal window and then executing the following two commands in the Terminal:

bg %1

disown %1

bg %1 tells the Terminal to continue job 1 (which presumably is matlab) in the background, and disown %1 tells the Terminal to relinquish control of that job.

Answer 2

[지훈 전]

I solved this problem by installing the MATLAB 2024b again.

[Fenglong Song]

Thanks. Seems I can launch matlab from terminal by

/Applications/MATLAB_R2023a.app/bin/matlab

I don't want to install newer versions because I need some toolboxes which takes time to configure if I change to ARM-based versions :)

[Eladio]

Thanks, Fenglong Song. That worked for me also. I typed this in terminal for my version:

/Applications/MATLAB_R2021a.app/bin/matlab

It took a while but it finally opened Matlab.

Any clue when will they fix this?

[Parna]

This worked for me too. Thanks

[Miguel]

Same here. My version is 2022a and it's the same issue.

Thanks for the workaround

Answer 3

[Tiago Pomella Lobo]

In my understanding, this is a code signing issue:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/finder-does-not-have-permission-to-open-null.2441374/

While no fix is provided, I have made my own automatized launchers that are release agnostic: https://github.com/tplobo/MATLAB_launcher

[Mark]

Thank you Tiago, this worked for me!

Answer 4

[Eladio]

It's been a month since this bug appeared. Isn't there any fix yet from Matlab??

It is extremely bothering to open Matlab with Terminal any time I want to use it

[Harry Smith]

I had to update to 2024b