Perplexity has just taken a very important step in its Mac app. Computer can now run directly on your computer, and do so even without an internet connection. It may seem like a minor detail, but we’re not talking only about offline availability, but about being able to complete tasks while keeping your data on your Mac. Thanks to the power of Apple’s chips, privacy improves significantly.
AI that works in your apps
As Perplexity explains, both the artificial intelligence model and the planning and execution of those tasks now work locally. With your permission, Computer can access the Notes, Messages, Mail, or Numbers apps to review conversations, detect important dates, and organize your tasks automatically.
What’s most interesting about the proposal is how it follows a direction we’ve already seen in Apple Intelligence’s privacy approach and in Setapp‘s commitment to local AI: bringing artificial intelligence to the applications we use every day, and keeping control over your information.
What you’ll need to use it
Computer runs on Qwen 3.6 or PPLX Pro and requires a Mac with Apple silicon. Perplexity recommends 36GB of unified memory, while the Hybrid Compute variant, which combines local and cloud processing, can work with just 24GB. In addition, we can authorize access to external models whenever we want up-to-date information.
This evolution, which builds on Portable Computer, is already available if we’re subscribers to the Pro, Max, or Enterprise plans. Your Mac gets a more autonomous, more private, and better integrated assistant, right where you’ll use it most.
