How to Chat With Apple Intelligence Like ChatGPT, Free and Offline

Every recent iPhone, iPad and Mac ships with a capable language model built in. Apple uses it for features like Writing Tools and notification summaries. But if you want to simply open a chat and talk to it, the way you would with ChatGPT, there isn’t an obvious place to do that.

This guide shows how to chat with Apple Intelligence directly, for free, with Viro AI, and when it’s the right model to use.

What you need

An Apple Intelligence device: iPhone 15 Pro or later, an iPad with an M-series chip, or a Mac with Apple silicon. See the full list of compatible devices.
The latest software: iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, or macOS 26 or later.
Apple Intelligence turned on in Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri.
The Viro app: the iPhone or iPad app, or Viro for Mac. The model runs on your device, so it isn’t available on the web.

How to chat with Apple Intelligence, step by step

Open Viro and start a new chat.
Open the model menu in the message box. It shows the model you’re using.
Choose Apple Intelligence. On an eligible device the row says On this device. On other devices it’s greyed out with the reason: the device isn’t eligible, Apple Intelligence is off, or the model is still downloading.
Send your message. The answer comes from your device. You can switch to another model at any point in the conversation.

To make it your default for new chats, open Settings, and under Account set Default AI Model to Apple Intelligence.

What Apple Intelligence is good at

Apple’s on-device model is small and fast. It shines at short, everyday tasks:

“Rewrite this text so it sounds friendlier.”
“Summarize these notes in three bullet points.”
“Give me five quick ideas for a vegetarian dinner.”
“Turn this into a polite message declining the invitation.”
“Explain this paragraph in simpler words.”

In Viro it can also use your things. For current events, scores, prices and weather it runs a web search and answers from the results, with sources shown under the reply. It can read your calendar, find and read files in Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox, and ask your connected apps like Notion, Slack, Todoist and GitHub. Only that one request leaves your device; the thinking and the answer stay on it.

When to switch to another model

Apple Intelligence is the right tool for quick, private tasks, not everything. Switch to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Viro AI in the same chat when you need:

Long, careful answers or research
Images, either to look at or to create
Long conversations, since the on-device model remembers less of a long chat than the larger models

If Apple’s model declines a request its own rules don’t allow, Viro says so and offers Ask Viro AI instead, which resends your message.

Why chat with an on-device model?

Private. Your message and the answer never leave your device while the model works. Apple doesn’t see your Viro chats.
Works offline. No signal on a plane or a train? It still answers.
Free. No per-message cost, and in Viro it’s included on every plan.
The greenest AI there is. No data center is involved, so Viro counts each reply as 0 Wh. Read more in is on-device AI more private and eco-friendly?

What about the new Siri?

Apple’s new Siri AI, in beta with iOS 27, has its own app that keeps conversations in sync across your devices. It’s built around your personal context and Apple’s apps: finding things across your device, taking actions in apps like Messages and Reminders, and answering from the web. Viro is a different kind of app: one place to chat with Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Viro’s own model, switching between them as you go, with your chats, files and connected apps in the same place.

Things to know

Answers arrive all at once after a short pause, rather than word by word, and the first answer after opening the app takes a few seconds longer while the model loads.
It replies in the languages Apple Intelligence supports on your device.
AI models can make mistakes. Double-check anything important.

Try Apple Intelligence in Viro AI, free on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Can you chat with Apple Intelligence?

Yes. Apple’s on-device model can be used through apps built on Apple’s Foundation Models framework. Viro AI lists Apple Intelligence as a chat model next to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, so you can chat with it directly on an eligible iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Is chatting with Apple Intelligence free?

Yes. The model runs on your own device, so there is no per-message cost. In Viro it’s included on every plan, including Free, and doesn’t count against any limits.

Does Apple Intelligence work offline?

Yes. The on-device model answers without an internet connection. Features that need the internet, like web search, only work when you’re online.

Is Apple Intelligence as good as ChatGPT?

For short everyday tasks like rewriting, summarizing and quick ideas it is fast and good. For long research, complex reasoning or images, larger models like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini do better. Viro lets you switch between them in the same chat.

Do my Apple Intelligence chats leave my phone?

In Viro, your message and the answer stay on your device while the model works. Viro then saves the chat to your Viro account like any other, so it syncs to your other devices. Apple doesn’t see it.

Sources

Apple Intelligence in Viro, Viro Help Center
Apple Intelligence, Apple, checked November 2026

Cover photo by Yura Fresh on Unsplash

How to Chat With Apple Intelligence Like ChatGPT (Free, On-Device, Private)