Meta shipped a proper Mac app on August 19, 2026 16 MB, Apple silicon only, written in AppKit and SwiftUI rather than wrapped in Electron. This is the independent guide to installing it, living with it, and working out whether you also need Muse, the agent Meta put on the Mac a month later.
Independent guide not affiliated with Meta. The app is only ever downloaded from Meta’s official site.
Four releases in five weeks, and they are easy to muddle up. Here they are newest first, with what each one actually changes for you.
Nine days after the iPhone release, Meta’s agent got its own Mac app. The distinction matters: Meta AI reads a window you hand it, while Muse works inside your apps organising files, filling in forms, pulling from Messages, Calendar and Notes. Meta says it asks before anything sensitive, such as sending an email or making a purchase, and that its work happens in a sandbox it calls the Muse Secure VM, kept out of Meta’s advertising systems. US only at launch. See Muse vs Meta AI if you are deciding between them.
Every paid Meta tier now sits under one subscription, rolled out globally. Standalone plans start around $2.99 a month, Core is $7.99, Premium is $19.99, and creator and business tiers run from $14.99 up to $499. Nothing you already had became paid the compute-heavy AI features simply got firmer rate limits on the free tier. Full breakdown on our Meta One pricing page.
The model behind Meta AI moved to Muse Spark 1.3, with a one-million-token context window that accepts text, images and video. The gains are in tool use Tau3-Bench Banking climbed from 35% to 47%, Terminal-Bench 2.1 from 80% to 85% and Meta reports roughly 20% fewer tool calls per task. It is not a clean sweep: independent testing found long-document accuracy slipped from 83% to 79%. You may notice it being brisker and occasionally more literal.
Not an Electron wrapper and not a repackaged iPad app an AppKit and SwiftUI shell using WebKit for richer chat content, 16 MB installed. Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, downloaded from Meta rather than the Mac App Store. Our review covers what the first release gets right and where it still feels like a beta.
It is a free desktop assistant that sits above everything else on your Mac, summoned with a keyboard shortcut, able to read a window you point it at and type into any app you like. These six guides cover the distance between “will it run on my Mac?” and “it is installed and signed in”.
It is not in the Mac App Store. Here is where the real installer lives and how to avoid the fakes already trading on the name.
Read the guideApple silicon and macOS 15 or later, plus a Meta account. Two minutes to check, and the answer is not negotiable.
Read the guideQuick Invoke, attaching a window, dictation, file uploads and the sidebar most people never open.
Read the guideThe app is free. Image generation, video and long sessions are the things that meter, and Meta One is what lifts them.
Read the guideCountries, languages and which Meta features are switched on in each. Still no Windows build.
Read the guideThree weeks with the beta: what earned a permanent place in the dock and what we turned straight back off.
Read the guideThe case for installing anything, when the browser version is right there, comes down to reach. A tab cannot see the spreadsheet in the window behind it and cannot type into Mail for you. The app can do both, which is why it needs permissions a web page never asks for.
It reads; it does not drive. The app can look at a window you hand it, but it cannot click buttons, move files or run anything on your behalf. That is Muse’s job, and it is a separate download.
Worth knowing before you install: window attachment needs both Screen Recording and Accessibility permission in System Settings. That is a real ask, and it is the honest reason this app is not in the Mac App Store sandboxed apps cannot do it. We walk through exactly what each permission grants in permissions and privacy. If you would rather not grant them, the web version still does the chat part perfectly well.
Option-Space drops a compact chat over whatever you are doing. Raycast and Alfred claim the same keys, which is usually why it seems broken.
Read the guideHand it one window and it reads the visible text plus a screenshot. One window, chosen by you not a live feed of your desktop.
Read the guideIt types into any Mac app, not just the chat box. This is the feature most people end up keeping after the novelty wears off.
Read the guideWhat Screen Recording and Accessibility actually grant, what Meta says it trains on, and how to disconnect an account later.
Read the guideMeta now has two Mac apps with overlapping names and very different jobs. The short answer: Meta AI answers questions about your work, Muse does the work. Plenty of people will want both, and they install separately.
| Meta AI for Mac | Muse for Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Released on Mac | August 19, 2026 | September 17, 2026 |
| What it is for | Asking questions, drafting, summarising, generating images with your screen as context. | Carrying out multi-step tasks on your computer while you do something else. |
| Can it take actions? | No. It reads a window and replies. | Yes. Files, forms, Messages, Calendar, Notes and Mail, inside the native apps. |
| Permissions | Screen Recording and Accessibility, for window attachment. | Per-area access you grant, with a confirmation prompt before anything sensitive. |
| Price | Free, with usage limits on heavy features. | Free with weekly limits; paid tiers raise them. |
| Where it is available | Broad rollout check your country. | United States at launch, expanding. |
| Read next | How to use Meta AI for Mac | Getting started with Muse |
About five minutes, most of it waiting for the download. The long version lives in our complete how-to guide.
Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, full stop. An Intel Mac will not run it. Requirements in full.
The app is not in the Mac App Store, so grab the installer from Meta's own site, drag it to Applications and sign in with your Meta account. Download walkthrough · Sign-in trouble?
Skip the hello. Paste a messy paragraph and ask for a tighter version, or drop in a spreadsheet and ask what changed. Prompts worth stealing.
Option-Space is the whole point of a desktop app. Train your thumb. Every shortcut.
Pick one open window, approve the Screen Recording prompt once, then ask about what is on screen. How window sharing works.
It types into any Mac app, not just the chat box, which is the feature people end up keeping. Dictation guide.
Instagram, Facebook and Google Workspace are each authorised separately and can be revoked separately. Connect them when you need them, not on day one. What each one grants.
Muse is the agent that arrived on the Mac on September 17, 2026. Muse Image and Muse Video are the creative tools behind Meta’s image and video generation. Different products, one confusing naming scheme these guides keep them straight. Stuck between the creative two? Read Muse Image vs Muse Video.
The agent itself: getting started, what it can reach on your Mac, and everyday uses from email to travel planning.
Image generation and editing: prompts that work, photo editing and visuals you can post without reworking.
Text to video on a Mac: features, audio, social clips and the limits you will hit first.
Probably not, at least at first. Meta One launched globally on September 16, 2026 and gathered more than 15 million subscriptions and trial sign-ups in its first days, but the free tier of Meta AI on the Mac is genuinely usable. You pay when you start generating images and video in volume, or when you want the business features.
A single app or feature. Cheapest way in if you only want one thing.
Core$7.99 / moBundles three standalone plans plus more AI usage image generation, editing and video. Around $11 bought separately.
Premium$19.99 / moCore, with higher limits again and the premium-only capabilities on top.
Creator & business$14.99–$499 / moVerified badges, impersonation protection, 24/7 support, scheduling, exportable analytics, team accounts.
US monthly rates as of the September 16, 2026 launch; prices vary by region, app and account type. Meta’s position is that the core experience across its apps and Meta AI stays free. Already paying for something else? Compare it against Meta Verified, Instagram Plus and WhatsApp Plus.
Apple Intelligence is already on your machine, ChatGPT and Claude both have polished Mac apps, and Meta is the newcomer with the deepest social integrations and the thinnest privacy record. Side-by-side guides, or skip to the alternatives.
Most beta problems are one of three things: a shortcut another app already claimed, a permission macOS quietly withheld, or an account that will not stay signed in. Start with the general checklist, then take the specific fix.
Looping back to the browser, or an account error that will not clear. Usually cookies, sometimes a second Meta account you forgot about.
Read the guideBlank previews and windows missing from the picker, almost always Screen Recording permission needing a full app restart.
Read the guideMicrophone access, the wrong input device, or a shortcut conflict. Check them in that order.
Read the guideYes, the app itself is free and there is no trial. What is metered is compute: image generation, video and other heavy features have usage limits on the free tier, and a Meta One subscription raises them. Our pricing guide keeps track of which features hit a wall first.
No. The beta ships as a native Apple silicon build, so you need an M-series chip and macOS 15 or later. There is no Rosetta fallback and no universal binary. The Intel Mac page covers what is left to you, and system requirements has the full list.
Because App Store apps run sandboxed, and the features that make this app useful on a desktop reading a window you hand it, typing into other apps need permissions the sandbox does not grant. So Meta distributes it directly. Get it from Meta's own site and nowhere else; our download guide walks through it.
No. You attach one window at a time and it reads that window: the visible text plus a screenshot. It is not watching your desktop in the background. Doing this asks for Screen Recording and Accessibility permission in System Settings, which sounds alarming and is worth understanding before you agree see permissions and privacy and window sharing.
Option-Space (⌥Space) opens Quick Invoke, a compact chat window on top of whatever you are doing. Raycast, Alfred and Spotlight alternatives often claim the same combination, so if nothing happens that is usually why the shortcuts guide explains how to sort it out.
Meta AI reads, Muse acts. Meta AI for Mac can look at a window and answer questions about it; Muse, which arrived on the Mac on September 17, 2026, works inside your apps organising files, filling in forms, pulling from Messages, Calendar and Notes and asks before anything sensitive. Full breakdown in Muse vs Meta AI.
Muse Spark, which replaced Llama across Meta AI in April 2026. The current release is Muse Spark 1.3, out September 2, 2026, with a one-million-token context window and a clear improvement on tool-use benchmarks though independent testing found long-document accuracy slipped slightly against 1.2.
Not yet, and Meta has committed to nothing publicly. The dedicated desktop app launched on Mac first. Until that changes the browser version is the option on Windows desktop vs web sets out what you give up, and availability tracks any movement.
Some of it. Meta says public posts, photos and captions, plus your interactions with AI features, can be used to improve its models, and that it also draws on information from outside Meta, including accounts you connect such as Google Workspace. Private messages with friends and family are not used unless you share them with Meta AI. If that trade matters to you, read permissions and privacy before you connect anything.
No. MetaAIMac.com is an independent guide with no connection to Meta. We do not host the installer and never will our download page points at Meta's official site, which is the only place you should get it.
Check your Mac against the requirements, then follow the walkthrough. About five minutes, and nothing to pay.
Independent guide the installer itself comes from Meta’s official site. On an Intel Mac? Read this first. Not sure it is for you? Check the requirements.