Perplexity released Personal Computer as an extension to its Perplexity Mac App, enabling the application to interact with local folders, native macOS applications and web content to carry out tasks across those environments. The company said the feature is being made available to all Perplexity Max subscribers and to those on the waitlist starting today.
According to Perplexity, Personal Computer can connect to folders on a Mac to search for, read and write files stored locally. The feature also supports interaction with several built-in macOS applications, including iMessage, Apple Mail and Calendar, and is designed to operate across web browsers as well.
On desktop hardware such as the Mac mini, Personal Computer can run continuously in the background and act across apps and local files. Users may trigger tasks from an iPhone while Personal Computer performs operations on desktop files; those remote requests require two-factor authentication. The feature also requires the latest iOS update available from the App Store to enable remote activation.
Perplexity described a keyboard-based activation for the Mac experience: users can invoke Personal Computer within the Notes app by pressing both CMD keys to submit a request for task execution. The system can read to-do lists and execute tasks by working across local files, iMessage conversations, email, connected apps and online resources.
Specific examples cited by the company include organizing files within the Downloads folder, comparing local files against information found on the web, and responding to voice commands to perform actions on Mac devices. Files created by Personal Computer are placed in a secure sandbox, and actions are described as auditable and reversible.
Perplexity emphasized that users will be kept informed about sensitive operations and will be able to monitor and intervene when necessary. The company positioned these controls as part of the feature design to maintain visibility over operations that touch local files and native applications.
Availability
Perplexity is rolling out Personal Computer to Perplexity Max subscribers and to members of the waitlist starting today.