An on-device AI assistant for Mac processes its core interaction loop on the computer: voice capture, transcription, planning, screen context, actions, memory, and speech. The point is not merely that a model can run locally. The point is that useful assistance can happen without making a remote service the default owner of your microphone, screen, and work history.
What should stay on the Mac
A credible local mode keeps raw voice, screenshots or accessibility context, conversation state, meeting recordings, and personal journals on the device. Network access should be an explicit feature boundary, not an invisible fallback. The product should show when a request leaves the Mac, which provider receives it, and what local alternative remains.
What makes an assistant useful
A Mac assistant needs more than chat. It should understand the active application, identify relevant controls, propose an action, request approval for material changes, verify what happened, and remember enough context to help later. It also needs restraint: no silent destructive actions, no surprise background network calls, and clear permissions.
Pace's model
Pace is an Apple Silicon macOS voice and action assistant. In local mode, its planner, screen understanding, speech, retrieval, journals, and meeting synthesis run on the Mac. It can use Apple-native or user-enabled external planner tiers, but off-device paths are explicit, consent-gated, visibly indicated, and recorded in a local privacy audit log. Unattended scheduled work does not silently escalate to the network.
Pace can read screen context, execute supported actions through its approval and verification pipeline, teach and run local skills, keep bounded local memory, and capture two-track meeting audio for local transcription and note generation. Individual capabilities have their own permissions and opt-ins; “on-device” does not remove the need for macOS microphone, accessibility, screen, calendar, or other relevant access.
Who this is for
Pace fits people who want a Mac-native assistant with voice, screen context, actions, and memory while keeping local processing as the default. It is not a cross-platform cloud chatbot and does not support Intel Macs.
CTA: Download Pace, inspect its privacy model, or continue to the screen-aware and action guides.