Will Meta AI run on your Mac?
Two lines decide it: the chip has to be Apple silicon and the system has to be macOS 15 or later. Everything else memory, storage, which model year you bought barely matters, because none of the thinking happens on your machine. Here is the full compatibility picture, and the 30-second check.
Independent guide not affiliated with Meta. Requirements are those published for the 1.0 public beta and may change as it leaves beta.
Four requirements, and only two of them can stop you
If your Mac was bought new from late 2020 onwards it almost certainly qualifies. The two hard gates are the chip and the system version; the other two are easy to sort out.
Apple silicon, M1 or later
A hard gate. The build is arm64 only, with no Rosetta fallback, so no Intel Mac can run it at any specification.
macOS 15 or later
The other hard gate, though a softer one if the Mac has an M-series chip it can be updated to a supported version for free.
A Meta account
Facebook, Instagram or a standalone Meta account. Free to create, and the app will not open a chat until you have signed in with one.
An internet connection
Everything is generated on Meta’s servers. There is no offline mode and no local model, so a dropped connection means no answers.
Meta AI for Mac requirements in full
Meta publishes the first two lines and stays quiet about the rest; the numbers below come from running the 1.0 beta on several Macs. Nothing here is demanding this is a thin native client, not a local model.
| Requirement | Minimum | Comfortable | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Apple M1 | Any M-series | The app is an Apple silicon binary. Performance differences between M1 and M4 are invisible in use, because the model runs elsewhere. |
| Operating system | macOS 15 | macOS 15 or newer | Below 15 the installer refuses. Updating is free on any Mac that can run the app at all. |
| Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB | It sits at roughly 300–500 MB in normal use. 8 GB is genuinely fine; 16 GB just means you notice it less alongside a browser. |
| Storage | ~16 MB installed | ~250 MB free | The app is tiny. Caches, attachments and generated images are what actually accumulate over a few weeks. |
| Connection | Any broadband | Stable Wi-Fi or Ethernet | All inference is server-side on Muse Spark 1.3. Offline, the app opens but cannot answer. |
| Account | A Meta account | The one you use daily | Facebook, Instagram or standalone. Connected services such as Google Workspace are authorised separately later. |
| Region | A supported country | The rollout is broad but not universal, and some features are switched off per market. Check availability. | |
| Permissions | None to start | Screen Recording, Accessibility, Microphone | All optional. Without them you lose window sharing and dictation, not chat. |
The app is free and there is no trial see pricing and limits for what actually meters. A Meta One subscription changes usage allowances, never hardware requirements.
Why Intel Macs are excluded, and what is left to you
Meta shipped a single arm64 binary. There is no universal build, and Rosetta cannot help it translates Intel code to run on Apple silicon, not the other way round. On an Intel Mac the installer simply refuses, and no workaround changes that.
A 2019 Mac Pro with 96 GB of memory is less compatible than a base M1 MacBook Air from 2020. This is about instruction sets, not power.
The practical answer on an Intel machine is the web version at meta.ai, which handles chat, drafting and image generation perfectly well. What you give up is the desktop-only reach: the ⌥Space overlay, attaching a window for context, and dictation that types into other apps. Our Intel Mac page goes through the alternatives in more detail, including the assistants that do still ship Intel builds.
One more thing that trips people up: an Apple silicon Mac running an older system is a fixable failure, while an Intel Mac is a permanent one. If About This Mac shows an M-series chip and macOS 14, you are one free update away from compatible.
Which Macs are compatible?
Every Apple silicon Mac Apple has shipped qualifies, so the useful question is which model year the line switched over. Anything from the model below onwards is fine, provided it is on macOS 15 or later.
| Mac | First compatible model | Compatible | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Air | M1, late 2020 | Yes | Including the 8 GB base model. The 2020 Intel Air is not. |
| MacBook Pro 13-inch | M1, late 2020 | Yes | The M2 2022 refresh too. Intel 13-inch models are out. |
| MacBook Pro 14 & 16-inch | M1 Pro / M1 Max, 2021 | Yes | The 2019 16-inch Intel model is not compatible. |
| iMac 24-inch | M1, 2021 | Yes | The 27-inch Intel iMac was never updated to Apple silicon. |
| Mac mini | M1, late 2020 | Yes | The Intel mini sold alongside it until 2023 is not. |
| Mac Studio | M1 Max / M1 Ultra, 2022 | Yes | Apple silicon from the start, so every Studio qualifies. |
| Mac Pro | M2 Ultra, 2023 | Yes | The 2019 Intel tower is not, whatever is inside it. |
| Any Intel Mac | No | No build exists. What to do instead. |
macOS 15 is the floor, and updating is free
The installer checks the system version before it does anything else. macOS 14 Sonoma and below are refused outright not degraded, refused. The good news is that every Mac capable of running the app at all can be updated to a supported version at no cost, usually in under an hour.
To update: Apple menu → System Settings → General → Software Update. Give it a few minutes to find what is available, take a backup if the Mac holds anything you would miss, then leave it to restart. If the update offered is a smaller security patch rather than a full upgrade, the full version usually appears under “Other updates are available”.
Staying on an older system deliberately for a piece of audio software, a plug-in, an old workflow is a perfectly reasonable choice. In that case treat Meta AI as unavailable to you for now and use the browser version, which has no system requirement beyond a current browser.
Check your Mac in 30 seconds
Two lines in one window answer everything. You do not need to download anything to find out.
Open the Apple menu
The Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen, in whichever app you happen to be.
Choose About This Mac
It is the first item. A small panel opens with the machine’s details, no scrolling needed.
Read the Chip line
“Apple M1”, “Apple M2 Pro”, “Apple M4 Max” anything starting with Apple M passes. If it says Intel, stop here: Intel Mac options.
Read the macOS line
15 or higher passes. 14 or lower means an update first how to update is above, and it is free.
Glance at free storage
Not really a requirement at 16 MB, but a Mac with under a gigabyte free will struggle with any install. Clear a little room first.
Both lines passed? Go and install it
Straight to the download and install walkthrough about five minutes, nothing to pay.
Requirements for Muse, Muse Image and Muse Video
Meta’s other Mac apps share the hardware bar and differ on availability. If you are weighing up which to install, Muse vs Meta AI is the place to start.
| App | Chip & system | Where it runs | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta AI for Mac | Apple silicon · macOS 15+ | Native app, 16 MB, server-side model | Broad rollout check your country |
| Muse for Mac | Apple silicon · macOS 15+ | Separate app with its own per-area permissions | United States at launch, expanding |
| Muse Image | No extra requirement | Inside Meta AI and Muse, generated on Meta’s servers | Wherever Meta AI is available; limits by plan |
| Muse Video | No extra requirement | Server-side rendering your Mac only plays the result | Narrower than image generation see availability |
Because generation happens on Meta’s side, a base M1 renders a video no slower than an M4 Max. What differs between plans is how many you get see Meta One pricing.
Compatibility questions people actually ask
What are the minimum requirements for Meta AI on Mac?
An Apple silicon Mac M1 or later running macOS 15 or later, plus a Meta account and an internet connection. The app is about 16 MB and free. Everything else in the table above is a comfort, not a condition.
Does it work on an Intel Mac?
No, and no workaround exists. The build is Apple silicon only with no Rosetta fallback and no universal binary, so specification makes no difference. The Intel Mac page covers what you can use instead.
Will it run on an M1 MacBook Air with 8 GB?
Yes, and comfortably. The app idles around 300–500 MB because the model runs on Meta’s servers rather than locally, so the base M1 Air behaves much the same as a top-end M4 Max.
How much storage does it need?
Roughly 16 MB installed. Allow a couple of hundred megabytes over time for caches, uploaded files and generated images. If you want it gone later, update and uninstall covers removing the leftovers too.
Can I use Meta AI offline?
No. Responses come from Muse Spark 1.3 running on Meta’s infrastructure, so the app needs a connection to do anything useful. Nothing runs on your Mac’s Neural Engine.
Do I need Apple Intelligence turned on?
No. The two are unrelated Meta AI neither requires nor uses Apple Intelligence. The hardware requirements overlap only because both need Apple silicon. Meta AI vs Apple Intelligence compares them properly.
Does it need Screen Recording permission to install?
No. Installing and signing in ask for nothing. macOS only prompts for Screen Recording and Accessibility the first time you attach a window, and for the microphone the first time you dictate all of which you can decline. See permissions and privacy.
Does Muse have the same requirements?
Same hardware bar Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later but Muse launched in the United States only and asks for its own permissions per area of your Mac. It is a separate download from a separate page.
Is there a Windows, iPad or Linux version?
The desktop app is Mac-only for now, with nothing committed publicly for Windows. On any other platform the browser version is the option desktop vs web sets out what you lose, and availability tracks changes.
My Mac qualifies but the app will not install. Now what?
Almost always the first-run gatekeeper prompt rather than a requirements failure, since the app is downloaded outside the App Store. The fixes are on the download page, with the wider checklist in Meta AI not working.
Apple silicon and macOS 15? You are good.
That is the whole test. The install takes about five minutes from here, and there is nothing to pay at any point.
On an Intel Mac? Read this first. Not sure it is available where you are? Check availability. The installer itself comes only from Meta’s official site.