Apfel: Free On-Device AI for macOS — Swift CLI Exposes Apple's Foundation Model With Zero Cloud Dependencies

GitHub·medium signal

Apfel, created by Franz Enzenhofer, wraps Apple's on-device LLM (Apple Foundation Model) on macOS 26+ and exposes it three ways: UNIX CLI, OpenAI-compatible HTTP server (via Hummingbird), and interactive chat. Built in Swift 6.3, runs 100% locally on Apple Silicon with native MCP support for tool calling, zero telemetry, and no API keys required. Hit HN front page with 343 points on April 3; completely free with no paid tiers.