Why does dictation require internet on Mac but works offline on iPhone and Apple Watch?

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Level 1

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Why does dictation require internet on Mac but works offline on iPhone and Apple Watch?

How is this possible? My Mac M4 Pro has:

Far more powerful chip than iPhone
More RAM
Neural Engine that's more than capable of on-device processing

Yet I can't dictate a simple text without internet connection, while my iPhone can do it offline?

The absurdity: Apple clearly has the technology for on-device dictation - it's working on iOS. The models exist. So why force Mac users to send their voice data to the cloud when the device is perfectly capable of processing it locally?

This is a privacy concern and makes no technical sense. When is Apple planning to fix this?

Posted on Nov 14, 2025 9:15 AM

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Answer 1

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Old Toad

Level 10

215,196 points

Nov 14, 2025 10:21 AM in response to astralzzz

I found the following via a Google search:

"The ability to use dictation on a Mac offline depends on whether you have Enhanced Dictation enabled or if you are using Voice Control.

By default, basic dictation requires an internet connection, as your speech is sent to Apple's servers to be converted to text. However, by enabling the Enhanced Dictation feature or using Voice Control, you can dictate without an internet. connection.

To set up Enhanced Dictation on a Mac, go to System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation and toggle it on. Then, check the box for Use Enhanced Dictation to enable offline and continuous dictation, which will begin a download of the necessary files."

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