These new AI features are coming to macOS Tahoe 26.2 and Mac Studio

Macworld

Apple released the macOS Tahoe 26.2 beta 3 earlier this week and it has a couple of new features that will be of interest to AI developers.

The first was actually introduced in the 26.2 beta 2 a few weeks ago and enhanced in the current beta. Developers implementing the open-source MLX framework can now leverage the Neural Accelerator in the new M5 chip. In a white paper, Apple states that MLX can be used “for a wide variety of applications ranging from numerical simulations and scientific computing to machine learning.” The white paper also provides benchmarks on the effect of the Neural Accelerator on performance, stating that the M5 is 19 to 27 percent faster than the M4.

The other new feature is an enhancement to the ability to create AI clusters with the Mac Studio. Developers can now create clusters using the Mac Studio’s Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, which makes it much easier to put together, instead of using RDMA Ethernet cards and optical modules. For example, a cluster of four M3 Ultra Mac Studios was created to run an early access build of Exo 1.0, experimental software that allows users to build and run AI clusters at home. The cluster used less than 500 watts of power, which is 10 times lower than a typical GPU cluster.

The 26.2 beta also includes a few new non-AI features, most notably the new “Edge Light” effect that appears on screen during video calls. If you’re interested, you can join the developer program and get access to the macOS and other Apple OS betas.