Source: Perplexity.

Today, Perplexity announced a local-first mode for Computer where the model and agent work entirely on your Mac whether you’re online or not, sending data to the cloud only with the user’s approval. The new local mode complements Hybrid Compute, which was introduced last month and uses a combination of local models and cloud-based frontier models.

The result is that Perplexity customers now have a choice when they start up the company’s Mac app. They can choose to start agentic workflows in the cloud with frontier models, or they can flip things around and start locally, turning to cloud-based models as needed. The local model uses Qwen 3.6 or PPLX Pro, a post-trained version of Qwen.

The benefit of starting locally in a securely sandboxed code- and tool-use environment is twofold. First, data stays on your Mac, ensuring privacy. Second, Perplexity subscribers are able to conserve credits, making their subscriptions go further. At the same time, cloud-based models remain available with the user’s permission as needed and to perform tasks like browsing the web and accessing online apps.

Local Computer is available to Perplexity Pro, Max, and Enterprise subscribers now, and Perplexity recommends using Apple silicon Macs with at least 36GB of memory.

My Notion setup (left) and Desk, my custom system for the iOS and iPadOS review.

The process for this year’s iOS and iPadOS review was, on the surface, similar to last year’s: I researched, wrote, and edited the entire story in Notion, then used a custom tool to export it to Markdown for MacStories. Structurally, it was also a mirror of last year’s setup: I had separate databases for notes...