Perplexity today said it is updating Perplexity Computer to run fully locally on Mac. The local version runs on Qwen 3.6 or PPLX Pro (a post-trained version of Qwen) in the Perplexity app for Mac on supported Apple silicon Macs.
Perplexity highlights the new Mac mini machines and says 36GB of memory or more is recommended to run locally. With the local setup, the AI model, task planning, reasoning, and file processing are handled on-device. Code and tool execution run in isolated sandbox environments.
Computer can use native apps on the Mac and complete tasks without sending personal data to the cloud. Perplexity says it can work across apps like Notes, Messages, Mail, Keynote, and Numbers.
Perplexity also offers Hybrid Compute, which combines frontier models that run in the cloud with local models to process information privately. It's an alternative for users who want local processing but don't have a Mac that's powerful enough. Hybrid Compute works on Macs with as little as 24GB of memory,
When running Computer locally, if a task requires current information, browser use, or cloud-connected apps, users can authorize cloud access and decide when to spend credits. There's also an option to call on one of more than 15 frontier models for tougher problems when needed.
Local Computer for Mac is available now for Perplexity Pro, Max, and Enterprise subscribers. Users can download Perplexity for Mac and then choose the fully local option to use it.
