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What is M1K3?
M1K3 is an on-device AI assistant for Mac that keeps models, voice and memory inside your own machine. There's no account, no telemetry, and its makers say you can pull the network cable and it keeps working. It is made by Round Tower Software, based in Ireland.
Three brains, all local
The app pairs three models you can swap in Settings: Mini (Apple Foundation Models) for instant replies, Lil (Qwen 3 4B) to front the conversation, and Big (Gemma 4 12B) for deeper tasks. Everything runs through MLX on Metal on Apple Silicon.
What it does
- Live voice with on-device speech recognition and Kokoro text-to-speech.
- A knowledge graph with semantic search over your documents (RAG).
- Temporal memory that supersedes outdated facts while keeping their history visible.
- Consent-gated call recording and transcription, stored encrypted.
- A tool-using agent (web search, page reading, your knowledge base) with a switch to cut web access.
- A local MCP server so Claude, Cursor and other agents can query your memory.
Privacy and requirements
Data sits in an encrypted store keyed from your Keychain. Web search is on by default but turns off with one setting. It needs macOS 26 Tahoe on Apple Silicon, and an iPhone and iPad beta is available through TestFlight.
It's free for personal use and the source is available under the FSL-1.1-ALv2 licence. Organisations can license M1K3 for Teams separately and run it on their own hardware.
M1K3 features and use cases
How to use M1K3
M1K3 FAQ
Does M1K3 send my data to a server?
Not by default. Inference, voice and memory all run on the Mac; the documented network calls are optional model downloads, web search (on by default, easy to switch off) and updates.
Which Macs are supported?
Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 26 Tahoe.
Is it free?
Yes, for personal use. Organisations license a separate product, M1K3 for Teams.
Is it open source?
It's source-available under FSL-1.1-ALv2: you can read, build and modify it for your own use but not run a competing service, and each release converts to Apache-2.0 after two years.
How is it different from Ollama?
Ollama is a model server you build on top of, while M1K3 is a finished app with voice, memory and document search built in.
Can Claude use what I've stored in M1K3?
Yes, through the local MCP server, which ships switched off and requires an access token.
Does it do anything when I'm not talking to it?
Only if you enable Heartbeat, a short update every two hours that respects quiet hours and is off by default.
Is there an iPhone version?
There's an iPhone and iPad beta on TestFlight, and your own devices can also use the Mac's brain over the local network.
M1K3 pricing and plans
Reference price: 0 USD. Source · Verified: October 21, 2026
Free: $0 for personal use, with no ads or subscription. Checked on: 21/10/2026.
- Available from the Mac App Store, Homebrew or a DMG
- Source-available under FSL-1.1-ALv2 (each release becomes Apache-2.0 after two years)
- Optional sponsorship of development
M1K3 for Teams: licensed separately for organisations running it on their own Apple Silicon hardware; no public price (design-partner pilots).
M1K3 Screenshots
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