Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Macs just got a huge AI boost

By
The ChatGPT desktop app open in a window next to some code.
OpenAI

We’re all waiting for Apple’s big push into AI, but Macs just got their own boost of AI capabilities thanks to OpenAI. As part of its big spring update, OpenAI announced that its ChatGPT Mac desktop app would soon launch with some AI capabilities that are eerily similar to Microsoft’s ambitions with Copilot.

Living in a browser, ChatGPT doesn’t have context of anything else happening on your computer. But with a desktop app, the chatbot can have access to other things on the screen. In the demo, it opened the desktop app alongside another piece of software. Not unlike Copilot, ChatGPT could be asked what else was on the screen. This makes ChatGPT a bit more capable and contextually aware.

It’s worth mentioning that as of now, this desktop app will only be available on the Mac, presumably because Windows already has Copilot.

Copilot, of course, takes things further with the Copilot Pro suite, which has been integrated into many of Microsoft’s first-party apps, whether that’s Edge, Word, or PowerPoint. While ChatGPT can’t do that, its ability to interact with other things on the screen makes it far more powerful. Add in the announcement around the updated GTP-4o model that will be accessible for free, and you have a significant boost in the AI capabilities of the Mac as a platform.

The announcement comes just a week after the launch of the M4 chip in the iPad Pro. Apple claims the new neural engine in the M4 is more powerful than the NPUs available in the current Windows AI PCs. While the M4 isn’t on Macs yet, Apple is clearly interested in investing more in on-device AI hardware in the future.

Of course, this is only the beginning for AI on Macs. Rumor has it that Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next month will be focusing primarily on AI, and that AI-related updates to macOS will be take the spotlight. Reports by Bloomberg say that Apple is nearing a deal with OpenAI on ChatGPT integration, but we’re yet to see the fruit of these talks just yet.

The ChatGPT Mac app will be available starting today to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, but it will be opening up to a larger launch “in the coming weeks.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Luke Larsen
Luke Larsen
Senior Editor, Computing
Luke Larsen is the Senior editor of computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.
The first Copilot+ PC has been tested — and it destroys the MacBook
The Surface Laptop shown in front of a Copilot+ sign.

We've heard a lot about Microsoft's new Copilot+ PCs over the past few days, but we can finally put some hard data to the company's bold claims. Signal65, a benchmarking and analysis company, put the new Surface Laptop through its paces, and it absolutely wrecks the MacBook Air M3.

The laptop, equipped with a Snapdragon X Elite processor, put up impressive results across the board, but battery life stands out most. According to the report, the Surface Laptop lasted over 21 hours in a local video playback test. For reference, that's close to twice as long as the Surface Pro 9, and more than 15% longer than the MacBook Air M3.

Read more
Microsoft just made Paint relevant again
Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

The controversial Recall feature has grabbed all the headlines from Microsoft’s Copilot+ announcements yesterday, but this new AI feature is also making Paint relevant again.

It’s called Cocreator, and it’s a new AI feature that can turn your quick sketch, augmented by text, into a much more realistic and impressive image. The exciting thing is that it does all this in real time. It might not get it right the first time, so you'll need patience, and the more details you give about what you want in the image, the better.

Read more
The real reason behind Copilot+ PCs goes far beyond just AI
The new Surface Pro on a table.

Microsoft has a lot more than AI riding on Copilot+ PCs. Although AI is the current buzzword of the tech industry, Microsoft's push into a new era of PCs has just as much to do with declining PC sales over the past several years, as well as Microsoft's decade-long drive to get Windows on ARM working.

With so much going on, it's left me wondering what Microsoft's real reason and motivation behind the transition might be. Copilot+ PCs are a new category of device that, yes, come with some AI features, but I'm convinced this transition might have more to do with addressing a stagnant Windows laptop market than simply just AI.
A simple question

Read more