You can now more easily use ChatGPT on your Mac computer. OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot is available to all macOS users, the company announced on Tuesday. The app was first announced ahead of Apple’s WWDC 2024 in June, where the companies jointly announced integrations between OpenAI’s chatbot and Apple’s operating systems for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
On the latter platform, users can quickly call up ChatGPT by using the keyboard combination of Option + Space after installing the new ChatGPT app.
This makes access to the AI chatbot something that will immediately feel familiar to macOS users who regularly use other keyboard shortcuts like Command + Space to pop up a search bar to access Spotlight Search. But instead of more traditional search, they’ll have access to a wider world of knowledge, only one button away. Once launched, ChatGPT appears as a chat interface overlaid on top of the screen.
OpenAI’s launch of the macOS app was a bit overshadowed at the time of the original announcement as it arrived alongside GPT-4o, its flagship generative AI model that promises more advanced intelligence, including the ability to handle not only text and speech but also video. (Its multimodal capabilities and ability to understand media give the AI model its name; the “o” stands for “omni.”)
ChatGPT’s desktop app was announced in the same press release, as a new app for both free and paid users. The company noted at the time that it could be called up with the simple keyboard shortcut and users could also take and discuss screenshots directly in the app. Users can upload files and other photos via the macOS app, too, as well as speak to ChatGPT from their desktop and search through their past conversations.
The app had been slowly rolling out to Mac users, starting with Plus subscribers, but today the company announced in a post on X that it’s now available to everyone.
This isn’t OpenAI’s only integration with Apple devices. At WWDC, the companies announced a more expansive deal that will also see Apple customers gaining access to ChatGPT from their iPhones and iPads, including through Siri and within other areas that could be aided by AI, like Writing Tools. These integrations are also powered by GPT-4o and will roll out to Apple customers later this year with the launch of Apple’s newest operating systems.
