At its Spring Update event, OpenAI announced that it will be releasing a desktop app for the Mac, as seen in the screenshot below. The app will be rolling out to ChatGPT Plus subscribers starting today, ahead of a wider launch "in the coming weeks."
"With a simple keyboard shortcut (Option + Space), you can instantly ask ChatGPT a question," OpenAI's press release says. In addition, Voice Mode will allow you to have voice conversations with ChatGPT directly from your Mac.
OpenAI already offers ChatGPT apps for the iPhone and iPad, and it plans to release a Windows version of the desktop app later this year.
OpenAI is also making some updates to ChatGPT's web interface, introducing a new home screen, a redesigned message layout, and more. The new look is "designed to be friendlier and more conversational," the company said.
OpenAI also announced that it will be making its all-new GPT-4o large language model available for free, meaning that no ChatGPT Plus subscription will be required to use it. OpenAI says GPT-4o provides "GPT-4-level intelligence," but is "much faster and improves on its capabilities across text, voice, and vision." Until now, users without a ChatGPT Plus subscription have been limited to the older GPT-3.5 model.
It was recently reported that Apple is in the final stages of discussions with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT on the iPhone starting with iOS 18, which is expected to be unveiled at Apple's annual developers conference WWDC next month. iOS 18 is also rumored to feature many new on-device AI features from Apple directly.
A replay of the Spring Update event is available on YouTube.
