Perplexity says its Computer agent can now run fully locally on a Mac, with both the model and the agent on the device
Perplexity Computer can now run fully local on your Mac. Work with your native Mac apps and local files, and run tasks without sending sensitive data to the cloud. The model and the agent both run on your Mac. Available now in the Perplexity Mac app.
Context
Running an agent entirely on a laptop lets people use it on sensitive files without sending data to a cloud model.
Perplexity Computer is Perplexity's agent that can operate apps and files on a user's computer. Perplexity's chief executive, Aravind Srinivas, said it can now run without cloud inference and even without WiFi.
Deep dive
On October 20, Perplexity posted that Perplexity Computer can now run fully local on a Mac. It said users can work with native Mac apps and local files and run tasks without sending sensitive data to the cloud, because the model and the agent both run on the Mac. It is available now in the Perplexity Mac app, the post said.
Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity's cofounder and chief executive, quoted the post, saying it can run fully local with no cloud based inference, without WiFi too.
The demo video shows a settings menu with Cloud, Hybrid and Local modes, and the text Computer runs the task with a local harness. In the example, the agent prepares review notes for a client from local files, produces a summary document titled Key topics going into 2027, and builds a to do list in the Reminders app.
Perplexity did not say which model runs locally, how large it is, or which Macs can run it. Local models are usually smaller than the cloud models Perplexity offers, so results and speed may differ from cloud mode, but the post gives no comparison.
What to expect next
Watch for Perplexity to name the local model and the minimum Mac hardware it needs, neither of which it gave. Independent reviews will show how well the local mode handles complex tasks compared with the cloud mode. Also watch for rivals such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Apple to offer agents that run fully on device, as privacy becomes a selling point for desktop agents.