macOS AI chat app
Private AI chat.
Fast. Local.
✈ Works offline, even in airplane mode
A full AI chat app that runs entirely on your Mac. Multi-conversation history, voice input, image analysis, markdown rendering. Apple's on-device model. No API keys. No data ever leaves your machine.
MIT Open Source macOS 26 Tahoe Apple Silicon 100% On-Device
vs. cloud AI
Works when they don't.
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Mistral all need servers, accounts, and an internet connection. apfel-chat runs entirely on your Mac. No Wi-Fi, no sign-up, no monthly bill.
| apfel-chat | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini | Mistral | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works offline | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Cost | Free | Free / $20+/mo | Free / $20+/mo | Free / $20+/mo | Free / $15+/mo |
| Data stays on your Mac | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| No account or sign-up | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Works during service outages | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| No API key needed | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Mistral are powerful cloud services, but they require an internet connection and send your conversations to remote servers. apfel-chat is the alternative for when privacy, offline availability, and zero cost matter.
How it works
Open, ask, get an answer.
No API keys, no accounts, no subscriptions. Just open the app and start chatting.
1
Open apfel-chat
Launch the app. It starts a new conversation automatically. Multiple chats are saved in the sidebar.
2
Type, speak, or attach
Type your message, use the mic for voice input, or drop an image. Images are read on-device using Apple Vision: OCR, classification, and face detection. No AI involved in image reading.
3
Get a streaming reply
Responses stream in real time. Conversations are saved to SQLite. Resume any previous chat anytime.
Before you install
Requirements
apfel-chat uses Apple's on-device language model. You need all three.
macOS 26 (Tahoe)
Required for Apple Intelligence. Apple menu > System Settings > Software Update.
Apple Silicon (M1 or later)
Apple Intelligence runs on-chip only. Apple menu > About This Mac must say M1, M2, M3, or M4.
Apple Intelligence enabled
Enable in System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri. Requires English device language.
apfel included: The ZIP download, curl installer, and Homebrew cask all bundle apfel automatically. No separate install needed.
Source builds only: brew install Arthur-Ficial/tap/apfel
Install
Free. Signed and notarised. Apple Silicon only.
Download
Download the zip, unzip, drag apfel-chat.app to your Applications folder, and open it.
Download free (arm64)Signed and notarised by Apple. macOS opens it without any security warning. SHA-256 checksums in each release.
After installing
- Open apfel-chat from Applications
- On first launch, a short welcome screen explains how it works
- Check for updates on launch is on by default
- A new conversation opens automatically after the welcome screen
- Type a message and press Enter
- The AI responds on-device, streaming in real time
- Previous chats are saved in the sidebar
You can reopen the onboarding later from Settings with Show welcome on next start. If you're offline, startup update checks stay completely quiet.
Other install options
Homebrew
brew install Arthur-Ficial/tap/apfel-chat
Best for developers. Updates with brew upgrade apfel-chat.
Curl installer
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Arthur-Ficial/apfel-chat/main/scripts/install.sh | zsh
Installs to /Applications and links apfel-chat to ~/.local/bin.
Build from source
git clone https://github.com/Arthur-Ficial/apfel-chat.git cd apfel-chat && make install
Requires Xcode command-line tools and apfel on PATH.
Features
Everything in one chat window.
Built for people who want a real AI chat experience without giving their data to anyone.
Privacy
Fully on-device
No API keys, no network calls, no data sent anywhere. Powered by apfel and Apple Intelligence.
Conversations
Multi-conversation history
Every chat saved to SQLite locally. Searchable sidebar. Resume any conversation exactly where you left off.
Speed
Streaming responses
Tokens arrive in real time as the model generates. No waiting for a full response to appear.
Voice
Speech input and output
Tap the mic, speak your message, and it sends automatically. Enable auto-speak for hands-free conversations.
Apple Vision
Image reading via Apple Vision
Drop any image. Apple Vision reads it on-device: OCR (text extraction), classification, barcode detection, face count. The structured result lands as a chat message. No AI is used for the image reading itself.
Rendering
Markdown support
Code blocks, bold, italic, lists, and headings render natively. Copy any response with one click.
Under the hood
Powered by apfel.
apfel-chat is a native macOS UI built on top of apfel, an open-source CLI and OpenAI-compatible server that wraps Apple's on-device foundation model. apfel handles the AI inference. apfel-chat handles the conversation history, streaming UI, speech I/O, and image analysis on top of it.
Where apfel-chat works well
- Quick questions, explanations, and lookups
- Drafting, editing, and rewriting text
- Brainstorming and creative tasks
- Code explanation and short coding tasks
- Privacy-sensitive topics: medical, legal, personal
- Working offline: planes, travel, no Wi-Fi
- Daily use without a subscription or API key
Honest limitations
- 4,096-token context window. Roughly 3,000 words across the entire conversation. Long documents, large codebases, or extended chats will be cut off at the edges.
- One fixed model. You cannot switch to GPT-4 or Claude Opus. The on-device model is capable but less powerful than frontier cloud models for complex multi-step reasoning.
- Language requirements. Your device language and Siri language must match and be set to a supported language (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and more). Mismatched settings will prevent the model from loading.
- No web search or image generation. The model has no internet access and cannot generate images.
- macOS 26 Tahoe required, Apple Silicon (M1 or later), Apple Intelligence enabled.
apfel.franzai.com. The AI engine behind apfel-chat. Also available standalone as a UNIX CLI and OpenAI-compatible API server for developers.
In action
Real conversations. On your Mac.
Runs entirely locally. What you type never leaves your device.
Chat
Natural conversation
Ask anything. The model reasons, drafts, explains. All on-device in seconds.
Creativity
Actually useful answers
From variable names to resignation letters from rubber ducks. It handles it all.
Apple Vision
Image reading via Apple Vision
Drop an image. Apple Vision extracts text (OCR), classifies content, and detects faces and barcodes. All on-device, no AI. The result lands as a message and the AI can then reason about it.
History
Persistent conversations
Every chat saved locally in SQLite. Auto-generated titles. Search and resume anytime.
Free and open source.
MIT-licensed. Use it, fork it, ship it. Bug reports, pull requests, and feature ideas all welcome.