According to a recent study by app subscription provider Setapp, AI adoption among Mac app users is rising. The study revealed that 42% of Mac users now report using AI-based applications regularly and that 63% think AI apps are better than those without AI. Mac software developers are also adopting AI; 44% have already included machine learning or AI models in their apps, and another 28% say they aim to do so.
The company, whose business involves a subscription service that allows access to more than 230 Mac programs, published the study as part of an annual report on the condition of Mac apps. This year’s study received responses from 1,241 Mac users, the majority of whom were in the United States, so it may not necessarily offer information on the popularity of AI-based apps on a broader worldwide scale. The survey emphasizes the popularity of AI applications among this subset of Mac users, adding that top AI apps also included ones that weren’t exclusively available for macOS, such as Google’s AI Bard and Bing, which included OpenAI technology.
TypingMind, Elephas, Spark, Notion, Grammarly, Craft, Luminar Neo, MacGPT, Asana, Raycast, and MacWhisper are a few additional popular AI applications users have acknowledged utilizing. Instead of having an app only concerned with interacting with AI, several employ AI to enhance their already existing applications.
Mykola Savin, Product Lead of Setapp, says, “We see how AI is transforming the app’s usage experience by providing additional user assistance.” “At Setapp, we also see a significant uptake of the functionality and AI technologies we integrate. Perhaps not everyone who uses AI is successful right away. But when they do, they frequently employ those traits.
Since Setapp hasn’t previously inquired about AI app usage in its yearly poll, it’s impossible to estimate how many more Mac users use AI applications regularly than in years past. But it seems that a sizeable portion of consumers’ every day routines is affected by AI apps. Users access up to 15 of the average 51 installed apps on their Mac each day. Since 42% of respondents claim to use AI applications regularly, AI is a significant component of consumers’ everyday routines.
Browser apps, Google and Microsoft Office products (all of which incorporate AI technology), and Adobe software are additional frequently used programs. The latter has adopted generative AI across various programs, including Photoshop and other Creative Cloud programs. Users’ exposure to AI applications may thus be substantially higher.
Other general results concerning Mac app adoption and discovery are also covered in the poll, including that subscriptions are more common than one-time purchases and that the Mac App Store, YouTube, and social media are the most effective channels for discovering new apps. In addition, a Mac with either an M1 or M2 processor is mentioned by 70% of poll participants.
