WhatRunsOnMyMac
An interactive, plain-English visual explainer that shows curious non-engineers exactly what happens when an AI model runs on their Mac versus in the cloud, and the privacy, cost and speed trade-offs.
Mac-using professionals and curious students who keep hearing "on-device AI" but don't know what it means
- Interactive CPU vs GPU vs Neural Engine visual walkthrough
- "Can your Mac run this model?" local checker using real Apple Silicon specs
- Privacy and energy trade-off simulator
- Side-by-side monthly cost calculator: local vs cloud inference
Inference School is trending on GitHub, signalling mainstream curiosity about Apple-Silicon AI; meanwhile every Mac app now markets an "AI" feature and users can't tell what's local.
Multiple comparison articles are being written (The Verge, KernelAI, Koombea, Stackviv, Naloseed) and the GitHub Inference School (134★) confirms rising curiosity, but no direct metric shows non-engineers are actively seeking a dedicated visual tool — most users rely on existing journalism.On-Device AI vs Cloud AI: Key Differences Explained (2026) ↗Here's how Apple's AI model tries to keep your data private ↗
Direct niche competitor ai-on-mac.com already publishes privacy matrices, original diagrams, comparisons, hardware guides, and a subscription, occupying the 'explain Apple/Local AI on Mac' position with multiple published articles dated through May 2026.Apple Intelligence vs. Local AI on Mac: Privacy Compared ↗Local AI vs Cloud AI (2026): Benefits, Cost & Privacy Compared ↗
The closest competitor offers a subscription, proving some willingness to pay, but consumer educational explainers historically monetize weakly without a corporate audience; pure one-shot interactive content rarely converts.Apple Intelligence vs. Local AI on Mac: Privacy Compared ↗
The on-device vs cloud debate is durable while Apple ships Apple Intelligence features per macOS release and PCC evolves, but every visual/inference claim must be re-validated frequently, raising maintenance cost.On‑Device vs. Cloud AI: WWDC 25 vs Google I/O 25 ↗
Building a web-based interactive explainer with sliders/simulations is straightforward, but accurately modeling token-level routing between on-device, PCC, and ChatGPT paths requires ongoing research as Apple updates its stack.Apple Intelligence vs. Local AI on Mac: Privacy Compared ↗