System requirements
What your Mac needs.
Amerus runs its AI on your own machine rather than in a data centre, so the hardware matters more than it would for a website. Here is exactly what is required, and what changes if you have more.
The short answer
| Processor | Apple silicon required — M1, M2, M3, M4 or later, including Pro, Max and Ultra variants. Required |
|---|---|
| Intel Macs | Not supported. Amerus relies on the unified memory architecture of Apple silicon to run its models at a usable speed. Not supported |
| Operating system | macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Every Apple silicon Mac can run Sonoma, so if your Mac has an M-series chip you can update to it free of charge. |
| Memory | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended. More memory lets Amerus run a larger, more capable model — see the table below. |
| Free disk space | About 6 GB for the application, the AI engine and a typical model set. Allow 12 GB if you choose the largest model, plus room for whatever you add to the Vault. |
| Internet | Needed once, during first-run setup, to download the AI engine and models. After that only for Connections you choose to use. |
| Account | None. Amerus has no account to create and no sign-in to a service. |
Which Macs qualify
Every Mac with an Apple silicon chip. If you bought your Mac new from late 2020 onwards, it is almost certainly on this list.
| MacBook Air | M1 (2020) and every model since |
|---|---|
| MacBook Pro | 13” M1 (2020); 14” and 16” M1 Pro / M1 Max (2021) and every model since |
| Mac mini | M1 (2020) and every model since |
| iMac | 24” M1 (2021) and every model since |
| Mac Studio | All models (2022 onwards) |
| Mac Pro | Apple silicon models (2023 onwards) |
| Any Intel Mac | Not supported |
Not sure which you have?
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner → About This Mac. If the Chip line begins with “Apple M”, you are set. If it says “Processor” and names an Intel chip, Amerus will not run on that machine.
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner → About This Mac. If the Chip line begins with “Apple M”, you are set. If it says “Processor” and names an Intel chip, Amerus will not run on that machine.
What memory changes
Amerus picks a model to match your Mac during setup, and you can change it later in Settings. More memory means a more capable model, not more features.
| 8 GB | Works well. Amerus runs its balanced everyday model. Good for questions, documents, memory and search. |
|---|---|
| 16 GB Recommended | The sweet spot. A noticeably stronger model for reasoning and longer documents, with room to keep other applications open. |
| 24 GB | Stronger still. Deep mode gets meaningfully better at analysis and multi-step reasoning. |
| 32 GB and above | The most capable model Amerus offers, and the fastest responses in Deep mode. |
Storage, in detail
| Amerus application | Under 1 GB |
|---|---|
| Local AI engine | Roughly 0.5 GB, installed once during first-run setup |
| AI models | From about 1.5 GB for the everyday model to about 6 GB for the largest. Amerus downloads only what your Mac can use. |
| Document index | Small — typically a fraction of the size of the documents themselves |
| Your Vault | Whatever you put in it. Files you connect from folders on your Mac or in iCloud Drive stay where they already are and are not copied. |
Two things worth knowing
| First launch needs internet | Setup downloads the AI engine and models — a few gigabytes, once. After that Amerus works with no connection at all. |
|---|---|
| Your Mac is the only copy | Amerus LLC does not hold a backup of anything you put into Amerus, because it never receives it. Keep your own backups, the way you would for any other document on your Mac. See section 5 of the Terms of Use. |
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Requires an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 14 or later. No account required.