diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index eea052dc..eb61316f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -8,13 +8,24 @@ TESTS_DIR = tests
 MATLAB_SCRIPT = tests/matlab_test_data_collectors/run_all_collectors.m
 KWAVE_MATLAB_PATH = $(abspath ../k-wave) # Get absolute path of k-wave directory
 
-# Define the artifact directory
+# Define the artifact directory for collected test values
 COLLECTED_VALUES_DIR = $(abspath tests/matlab_test_data_collectors/python_testers/collectedValues)
 
-# Default target
+# Platform-specific MATLAB detection
+# On macOS, automatically find the latest MATLAB installation
+ifeq ($(shell uname), Darwin)
+    # Find the latest MATLAB version installed in /Applications
+    # Sort in reverse order and take the first (latest) version
+    MATLAB_PATH := $(shell ls -d /Applications/MATLAB_R* 2>/dev/null | sort -r | head -n 1)
+    ifneq ($(MATLAB_PATH),)
+        MATLAB := $(MATLAB_PATH)/bin/matlab
+    endif
+endif
+
+# Default target - runs all examples and tests
 all: run-examples test
 
-# Target to run all examples
+# Target to run all examples with non-interactive backend
 run-examples:
 	@echo "Running all examples..."
 	@MPLBACKEND=Agg $(PYTHON) run_examples.py
@@ -25,18 +36,34 @@ test: $(COLLECTED_VALUES_DIR)
 	@pytest $(TESTS_DIR)
 
 # Target to run the MATLAB script and create the artifact directory
+# Includes fallback behavior if MATLAB is not available
 $(COLLECTED_VALUES_DIR): 
 	@echo "Running MATLAB script to collect values..."; \
-	$(MATLAB) -batch "run('$(MATLAB_SCRIPT)');"; \
-# Clean target (optional) - cleans Python caches and collected values
+	if [ -x "$(MATLAB)" ]; then \
+		$(MATLAB) -batch "run('$(MATLAB_SCRIPT)');"; \
+	else \
+		echo "MATLAB not found. Skipping MATLAB data collection."; \
+		echo "Some tests may fail if they depend on MATLAB data."; \
+		echo "To run all tests, you need to:"; \
+		echo "1. Install MATLAB from https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab.html"; \
+		echo "2. Make sure MATLAB is in your PATH or installed in /Applications/MATLAB_R* on macOS"; \
+		echo "3. Run 'make clean' to clean any partial test data"; \
+		echo "4. Run 'make test' again"; \
+		echo ""; \
+		echo "For now, continuing with available tests..."; \
+		mkdir -p $(COLLECTED_VALUES_DIR); \
+	fi
+
+# Clean target - removes all generated files and caches
 clean: clean-python clean-collected_values
 
+# Clean Python-specific files
 clean-python:
 	@echo "Cleaning Python cache files..."
 	@find . -name '*.pyc' -delete
 	@find . -name '__pycache__' -delete
 
-# Clean collected values directory
+# Clean collected test values
 clean-collected_values:
 	@echo "Cleaning collected values directory..."
 	@rm -rf $(COLLECTED_VALUES_DIR)