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Apfel

Apfel is a Swift command-line tool for accessing Apple Intelligence on-device on Apple Silicon Macs, with an interactive chat interface and an OpenAI-compatible local server.

Explore the practical guide ↓

Independent OpenViST project profile, based on linked sources.

Apfel — OpenViST project profile in Local & Self-hosted AI.
OpenViST project illustration. See the linked sources for product details.
Understand the project

Practical overview

When it fits

Use Apfel when you have a supported Apple Silicon Mac and want to access Apple Intelligence locally from terminal workflows, an interactive REPL, or an OpenAI-compatible client.

Who it is for

  • Mac developers who want a local AI endpoint for software that supports the OpenAI API format.
  • People who want to use Apple Intelligence from terminal commands, scripts, or piped text and files.
  • Users who want an interactive REPL for prompt or MCP-server testing.

Documented uses

  • Send prompts to the on-device model from a terminal or shell pipeline.
  • Include PDF, image, or text-file content in a prompt.
  • Serve the model locally for OpenAI-compatible clients.
  • Test prompts or MCP servers in an interactive chat session.
  • Generate structured JSON or code-focused output for scripting.
Before you choose

Requirements & limits

The README documents macOS 26 Tahoe or later, Apple Silicon M1 or newer, and Apple Intelligence enabled as requirements. It describes Homebrew installation and a source-build route. The project is MIT-licensed.

  • Apfel depends on Apple Intelligence and Apple Silicon; it is not a general cross-platform model server.
  • The README specifies a 4,096-token context window on macOS 26 and M1/M2 Macs, and an 8,192-token window for M3-or-newer Macs with at least 12 GB on macOS 27.
  • The project describes its inference as on-device, without cloud access or API keys.
  • The README lists guardrails and no embeddings among its limitations.

Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.

Source-based practical guide

Build Apfel from source

Install Apfel using the repository’s documented source-build route.

Before you start

  • macOS 26 Tahoe or later
  • Apple Silicon Mac with an M1 chip or newer
  • Apple Intelligence enabled
  • Command Line Tools with the macOS 26.4 SDK
  • Swift 6.3

Steps

  1. Clone https://github.com/Arthur-Ficial/apfel.git.

  2. Change into the cloned apfel directory.

  3. Run the command below.

    Documented command
    make install

Expected outcome

The documented build command installs Apfel from its source repository.

Guide limitations

  • The README specifies Command Line Tools and Swift 6.3; Xcode is not required.
Documentation 1 ↗
Evidence and transparency

Sources & review

Official repository ↗
Source record details
Source availability
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Sources checked
7 October 2026
Original website title
Arthur-Ficial/apfel · Official homepage title · retained in its source language
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