Direct answer
The Mac version is real, but it is not a public release yet.
The current build runs on Apple Silicon and is going through end-to-end testing. Installation, first-time model setup, transcription, local AI clip selection, headline and caption editing, rendering, export, and clean uninstall all need to pass before the download button goes live.
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How the local AI pipeline uses Apple Silicon
| Stage | Current Mac implementation | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Transcription | MLX Whisper | On the Mac with Apple Metal acceleration |
| Clip selection | Qwen through llama.cpp | On the Mac with Metal acceleration |
| Face tracking, captions, and rendering | Bundled desktop pipeline | On the Mac |
What unified memory changes
Apple Silicon uses one shared memory pool for the CPU, GPU, and local AI workloads. That can reduce data copying between separate memory pools, but ClipShip still has to leave enough memory for macOS and other open applications. The QA build checks available memory before loading a local model and warns when the selected model would leave too little headroom.
Privacy boundary on macOS
In Local AI mode, the source video, transcript, clip selection, captions, and rendered exports stay on the Mac. In optional API mode, the source video still stays local, but transcript text is sent directly to the AI provider selected by the user with their own API key. ClipShip does not proxy or store that key on its servers.
Current release status
- Target platform for the first public Mac release: Apple Silicon.
- Distribution target: a signed and notarized DMG downloaded from this website.
- Current stage: private QA. There is no public Mac installer link yet.
- Final minimum-memory guidance will be published after QA across the supported local models.
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