Facts
Dictation on Mac: facts and numbers
247 facts, each traced to the exact words of its source.
- A Mac with no internal microphone needs an external microphone connected and selected in Sound or Keyboard settings before Dictation can work.Apple Inc., Apple Support, macOS User Guide, n.d.
- A Microsoft Q&A answer says that a keyboard with an fn key is a laptop or condensed keyboard, and that the Word Dictate shortcut on it needs the fn key as well: fn + Option + F1.Microsoft Q&A, n.d.
- A standard Voice Control command works only while its checkbox is selected in the Commands list; deselecting it turns the command off.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- A user report filed against Claude Code says that, in Claude Code's input prompt, pressing the fn key twice to start macOS dictation does not work reliably.claudeissues.com (mirror of Claude Code issues), 2026
- 52 percentAbout 52 percent of the Mac Dictation language variants have automatic punctuation.Calculated from other facts
- 76 percentAbout 76 percent of the Mac Dictation language variants also appear on the on-device list.Calculated from other facts
- After Enhanced Dictation was removed, Catalina's dictation lacked formatting commands such as 'new paragraph' and turned itself off after a few moments without speech.Eclectic Light Company, 2019
- 2 words or moreApple advises naming a custom Voice Control command with two or more words and avoiding names with a single syllable.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- 0.5 secondsApple advises pausing about half a second between Voice Control commands said in quick succession.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Apple advises that the Mac's microphone should not be obstructed by objects, such as clothing or your body, while you are speaking.Apple Inc., Apple Support, macOS User Guide, n.d.
- Apple advises that you position yourself as you normally use your Mac, speak clearly at a volume that is neither too quiet nor too loud, and avoid background noise when you use Dictation.Apple Inc., Apple Support, macOS User Guide, n.d.
- Apple built VoiceOver into Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, which Macworld reported in April 2005 as a feature that starts with Command-F5.Macworld, 2005
- Apple defines Apple silicon as a system on a chip designed by Apple that puts multiple computer components onto a single chip.Apple Inc., 2026
- Apple describes Siri on a Mac as an intelligent assistant that is built into the computer and helps you get things done.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple describes the Apple Neural Engine (ANE) as the energy-efficient and high-throughput engine for machine learning inference on Apple silicon.Apple Machine Learning Research, Apple Machine Learning Research, 2022
- Apple describes the Energy Impact column in Activity Monitor on a Mac as a relative measure of an app's current energy use, where lower is better, rather than an absolute power figure.Apple Support, n.d.
- Apple describes Universal Clipboard as a way to copy content from one of your Apple devices and paste it on another. Its examples run from a Mac to an iPhone and from an iPad to a Mac.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple includes an interactive Voice Control Tutorial in System Settings that lets you practice essential commands.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- 2019 yearApple introduced Voice Control with macOS Catalina in 2019 to let people control a Mac entirely by voice, using on-device speech recognition.Apple, Apple Newsroom, 2019
- 2 yearsApple links Siri and Dictation request history, including transcripts, to a random rotating identifier rather than your Apple Account, and may keep it for up to two years.Apple, Apple, 2026
- 9 English variantsApple lists 'More advanced Dictation', the Apple Intelligence dictation model in macOS 27, only for 9 English variants.Apple, Apple, 2026
- 20 language variantsApple lists 20 language and regional variants for Voice Control on the Mac, about a third of the number for Dictation.Apple, Apple, 2026
- 33 language variantsApple lists 33 language and regional variants in which Mac Dictation adds punctuation automatically.Apple, Apple, 2026
- 48 language variantsApple lists 48 language and regional variants for on-device and modeless Dictation on the Mac, which require a download of speech models.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple lists asking Siri to turn on Voice Control, or to turn on VoiceOver, as example requests for adjusting Mac settings.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple lists calculations and unit conversions among the requests Siri answers on a Mac, with examples such as a percentage of a number and a centimeter-to-inch conversion.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple says a Mac must be connected to the internet to delete Siri and Dictation history.Apple, n.d.
- Apple says a Mac must be connected to the internet to use Siri.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple says a Mac Pro introduced in 2023 or later is an Apple silicon Mac, so a Mac Pro from 2019 is not an Apple silicon model.Apple Inc., 2026
- Apple says a Mac's sound port supports stereo output and mono input, and gives a headset with a built-in microphone as its example of mono input.Apple Inc., Apple Support, macOS User Guide, n.d.
- Apple says any app can tap into the on-device models that power Apple Intelligence, and that the features built on them work offline.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple says audio transcription in Voice Memos on a Mac is not available in all countries or regions.Apple, Apple Support, Voice Memos User Guide, 2026
- Apple says both devices must meet minimum system requirements for Universal Clipboard.Apple Inc., n.d.
- 2020 yearApple says it began moving Mac computers from Intel processors to Apple silicon starting with certain models introduced in late 2020.Apple Inc., 2026
- Apple says it may review a subset of the transcripts of Siri interactions, and that the small subset it has reviewed may be kept beyond two years.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple says its older SFSpeechRecognizer class worked well for short dictation and could use Apple's servers on devices with limited resources.Apple, Apple Developer, WWDC25 session 277, 2025
- Apple says macOS applies System Integrity Protection's security policy to every process running on the system.Apple, 2026
- Apple says on-device processing lets Apple Intelligence be aware of your personal information without collecting it.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple says Siri has to be turned on in System Settings before you can use it to get information on a Mac.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple says System Integrity Protection restricts components to read-only in specific critical file system locations.Apple, 2026
- Apple says that by default, when you use a function key from F1 through F12 in a VoiceOver command, you must also press the Fn key, and that on some Macs you can change this behavior.Apple Support, 2026
- 10 metersApple says that for Universal Clipboard to work, your devices must be within 30 feet (10 meters) of one another.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple says that if you assign a keyboard shortcut that already exists for another command or app, your new shortcut will not work, and that you must change one of the two shortcuts.Apple, Apple Support, Mac Help, n.d.
- Apple says that if you open a recording made in macOS 14 or earlier, or on a device that does not support transcription, Voice Memos transcribes it automatically when it contains recorded speech.Apple, Apple Support, Voice Memos User Guide, 2026
- Apple says that if you want to enter text and control your Mac by speaking commands, instead of using a keyboard, mouse or trackpad, you can use Voice Control.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Apple says that on a Mac with Siri AI, you can switch back to the previous version of Siri, called Siri Classic, in Siri settings.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple says that once you copy content, it is available on the Clipboard for a short time, so you should paste it soon after copying.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple says that Siri's writing help on a Mac lets you ask follow-up questions and refine the work inside the Siri conversation, after you ask it to draft, proofread or summarize text.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple says that the Improve Siri and Dictation setting allows it to store and review a sample of the audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple says that the Voice Memos app on a Mac can recognize and transcribe the speech in audio recordings.Apple, Apple Support, Voice Memos User Guide, 2026
- Apple says that transcription with its SpeechAnalyzer API is entirely on the device, although the language models must first be downloaded.Apple, Apple Developer, WWDC25 session 277, 2025
- Apple says that when the cursor is highlighted and pulsing, or you hear a tone, your Mac is ready for dictation, and you can speak your text.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Apple says that when Voice Control is ready to use, its menu bar icon changes to show that Voice Control is listening for commands.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- Apple says that while VoiceOver is on, pressing the Control key pauses VoiceOver speech without affecting the audio of other apps, and pressing it again resumes speech.Apple Support, 2026
- Apple says that with Dictation on a Mac you can speak to enter text anywhere you can type it.Apple Support, n.d.
- Apple says that with Dictation on a Mac you can speak to enter text in any place where you can type.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Apple says that with macOS Sequoia and a Mac with Apple silicon, speech in audio recordings can be recognised and transcribed to text in Voice Memos.Apple, Apple Support, Voice Memos User Guide, macOS Sequoia 15 version, 2026
- Apple says that with Voice Control on, you can use your voice to navigate the desktop and apps, interact with what is on the screen, and dictate and edit text.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- Apple says that, depending on your Mac model, choosing a Dictation keyboard shortcut can change the Press fn key to or Press key to option in Keyboard settings automatically.Apple Support, n.d.
- Apple says the dictation commands on its Mac Help page are always available while you are dictating text.Apple Inc., 2026
- 15.8 teraflopsApple says the fifth-generation 16-core Neural Engine, reached by 2021, is capable of 15.8 teraflops, which it puts at 26 times the processing power of the original.Apple Machine Learning Research, Apple Machine Learning Research, 2022
- Apple says the full list of supported Voice Control commands, with examples of how to use them, is under Voice Control > Commands in System Settings.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Apple says Universal Clipboard is best for sharing small selections of text or copied images between devices, and that for multiple files you should use a sync feature instead.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple says Universal Clipboard needs both devices to be signed in to the same Apple Account.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple says Universal Clipboard needs Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Handoff turned on for both devices.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple says Voice Control offers a more efficient way to write and edit, and it describes spelling mode for names and addresses as part of that.Apple, 2026
- Apple says you can activate Siri on a Mac by saying Hey Siri or Siri, but only if that option is available for your device and turned on in Siri settings.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple says you can change the language you dictate in, or set up Dictation for multiple languages and switch between them as needed. Apple describes switching between languages, not recognizing two languages within one sentence.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Apple says you can change the VoiceOver modifier in the Commands category of VoiceOver Utility.Apple Support, 2026
- Apple says you can dictate text of any length on a Mac without a timeout.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Apple says you can dictate text of any length on a Mac without a timeout.Apple Support, n.d.
- Apple says you can pause Voice Control when you do not want the words you say to be read as commands or dictation, by saying Stop listening, and resume it by saying Start listening.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Apple says you can turn VoiceOver on or off from the Accessibility Shortcuts panel by pressing Option-Command-F5, then pressing Tab until you hear the VoiceOver option and pressing Space.Apple Support, 2026
- Apple suggests headphones when you use Voice Control with VoiceOver, to help ensure that Voice Control hears only you.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Apple's 2017 Hey Siri article says the detector uses a Deep Neural Network to turn the acoustic pattern of your voice into probabilities over speech sounds.Apple Machine Learning Research, 2017
- Apple's accessibility page for mobility features presents Voice Control as a way to navigate a device with voice commands, without a keyboard, mouse or trackpad.Apple, 2026
- 11 English variantsApple's auto-punctuation list for Mac Dictation includes 11 English language and regional variants.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's auto-punctuation list for Mac Dictation names Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional) and Cantonese (Taiwan) as separate entries.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's compatibility list for macOS 27 contains only the MacBook Neo and Macs with Apple silicon.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's developer documentation says the SFSpeechRecognizer class might need an Internet connection for some languages.Apple Inc., n.d.
- 40 secondsApple's Dictation guide for macOS Catalina 10.15 advises speaking for no more than 40 seconds at a time.Apple, n.d.
- 15 English variantsApple's Dictation list for the Mac includes 15 English language and regional variants.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's Dictation list for the Mac includes Mandarin Chinese (China mainland) and Mandarin (Taiwan).Apple, Apple, 2026
- 3.15 timesApple's feature availability list gives Mac Dictation 63 language and regional variants and Voice Control 20, so Dictation has about 3.15 times as many.Calculated from other facts
- Apple's footnote says Siri AI is available in beta in macOS 27.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple's function-key guide shows Dictation among the symbols on the top row of an Apple keyboard, and says not all keyboards have symbols for the same functions.Apple Inc., Apple Support, n.d.
- Apple's function-key guide shows Dictation among the symbols on the top row of an Apple keyboard, next to display brightness, Mission Control and Spotlight, and says not all keyboards have the same symbols.Apple Inc., Apple Support, n.d.
- 12GB unified memory (M3 or later)Apple's improved on-device Dictation model in macOS 27 is available on Macs with M3 or later and at least 12GB of unified memory.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's Mac command list maps the spoken words 'colon' and 'semicolon' to a colon and a semicolon, next to the other punctuation names.Apple Inc., 2026
- Apple's Mac Help for macOS Mojave 10.14 says that turning on Enhanced Dictation makes it possible to dictate text even when you are offline, and that you can deselect it to use server-based dictation instead.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac Help, macOS Mojave 10.14 version, n.d.
- Apple's Mac Help for macOS Mojave 10.14 says that with server-based dictation, your words are sent to Apple servers to be analyzed using the latest language data, and that the converted text appears after you end dictation.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac Help, macOS Mojave 10.14 version, n.d.
- Apple's Mac Help gives Option-Z as an example of a custom key combination for starting and stopping Dictation, recorded with Customize.Apple Support, n.d.
- Apple's Mac Help page for macOS Ventura 13 lists the Return key as one way to finish dictating, next to the dictation keyboard shortcut and the Done button in the feedback window.Apple, n.d.
- Apple's Mac Help says that to change the language you dictate in, you go to Dictation in Keyboard settings, click the Edit button next to Languages, and select a language and region.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- 6 monthsApple's Mac Help says you can delete Siri and Dictation request history, both audio recordings and transcripts, if it is less than six months old.Apple, n.d.
- Apple's Mac help tells you to turn Dictation on or off in Keyboard settings, a separate control from the Siri settings.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Apple's Mac mini specifications list a built-in speaker and a 3.5 mm headphone jack under Audio, and no built-in microphone.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple's Mac troubleshooting checklist for Dictation tells you to choose the correct language and region when Dictation does not work as expected.Apple Inc., Apple Support, macOS User Guide, n.d.
- Apple's Mac troubleshooting page for Dictation introduces its checks with the words 'Here are some solutions to try', and the first check is that Dictation is turned on in Keyboard settings.Apple Inc., Apple Support, macOS User Guide, n.d.
- Apple's Mac troubleshooting page for Dictation says that if you use an external microphone, you should make sure its input volume is sufficient.Apple Inc., Apple Support, macOS User Guide, n.d.
- Apple's MacBook Neo tech specs and its testing note name the Apple A18 Pro as the Neo's chip, not an M-series chip.Apple, 2026
- 8 GB of unified memoryApple's MacBook Neo tech specs list 8GB of unified memory for the Neo's configurations.Apple, 2026
- 63 language variantsApple's macOS feature availability page lists 63 language and regional variants for Dictation on the Mac.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's macOS feature availability page lists Russian (Russia) among the Dictation languages.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's macOS Tahoe 26 compatibility page lists the Mac Pro (2019) as a computer that can run Tahoe, alongside the Mac Pro (2023).Apple, Apple Support, 2025
- Apple's on-device and modeless Dictation list on the Mac includes Russian (Russia).Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's on-device Dictation list for the Mac includes Cantonese (Hong Kong) and Cantonese (Simplified, China mainland).Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's on-device Dictation list for the Mac includes Mandarin Chinese (China mainland).Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's Pages guide says that once dictation is set up, you can change the dictation shortcut key or the language, in the dictation settings under Keyboard in System Settings.Apple, Apple Support, Pages User Guide for Mac, n.d.
- Apple's Pages guide says that when the microphone appears you begin speaking, that you add punctuation by speaking its name, and that you click Done below the microphone when you are finished.Apple, Apple Support, Pages User Guide for Mac, n.d.
- Apple's Pages guide says to open a document, place the insertion point where you want to begin dictating, or select the text you want to replace, before you start dictation.Apple, Apple Support, Pages User Guide for Mac, n.d.
- Apple's Speech framework, through the SpeechAnalyzer class available from macOS 26, lets third-party apps add speech-to-text with Apple's own models.Apple, Apple Developer Documentation, 2025
- Apple's steps for a finished recording say to select the transcript text you want, Control-click it, then choose Copy, and paste it into another document such as a Mail message or text file.Apple, Apple Support, Voice Memos User Guide, 2026
- Apple's steps for turning VoiceOver on or off in System Settings start from the Apple menu, then Accessibility in the sidebar, then VoiceOver, where you switch it on or off.Apple Support, 2026
- Apple's steps to turn off Siri on a Mac open the Siri pane of System Settings and end with the Turn Off Siri button; the steps do not mention Dictation.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Apple's troubleshooting says that if Universal Clipboard is difficult to get working, you should restart your devices and try again.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple's Universal Clipboard example copies a URL on a Mac and pastes it into Safari on an iPhone.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple's Universal Clipboard example copies text on an iPad and pastes it into a note on a Mac.Apple Inc., n.d.
- Apple's Voice Control list for the Mac includes Russian, written without a region.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Apple's VoiceOver guide for Mac says you turn VoiceOver on or off by pressing Command-F5, and on a Mac with Touch ID you can instead hold Command and quickly press Touch ID three times.Apple Support, 2026
- Apple's VoiceOver User Guide for macOS 27 describes VoiceOver as the screen reader built into macOS, and it teaches the basic commands for controlling a Mac with VoiceOver.Apple Inc., Apple Support, VoiceOver User Guide, n.d.
- 26 last macOS version on IntelBecause macOS Tahoe 26 still lists Intel MacBook Pro models and macOS 27 lists only Apple silicon Macs, Tahoe is the last macOS version for Intel Macs, so they cannot get the macOS 27 dictation model.Calculated from other facts
- 30 secondsBefore Enhanced Dictation in OS X Mavericks, standard Mac dictation had a 30-second limit; Enhanced Dictation removed it and worked offline.Steven Sande, Engadget (TUAW), 2014
- By default, Apple's VoiceOver modifier is Control and Option pressed together, or Caps Lock on its own.Apple Support, 2026
- Claude Code's docs say that after you reset a terminal's microphone permission, you must quit the terminal with Cmd+Q, because macOS does not prompt a process that is already running.Anthropic, Anthropic, 2026
- Claude Code's docs say that if your terminal app does not appear under the macOS Microphone settings, there is no toggle you can enable, so the permission state has to be reset.Anthropic, Anthropic, 2026
- Claude Code's troubleshooting says that when it reports that microphone access is denied, you should go to the Microphone setting on a Mac, enable your terminal app, and run /voice again.Anthropic, Anthropic, 2026
- Claude Code's voice dictation is turned on by running /voice in the CLI.Anthropic, Anthropic, 2026
- 2 minutesClaude Code's voice dictation stops recording automatically after two minutes in total.Anthropic, Anthropic, 2026
- Commands for working with text work in both Dictation mode and Spelling mode.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Current Mac Dictation accepts text of any length without a timeout; you stop it with Escape, the Microphone key or the Dictation shortcut.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- For a custom command with the Paste Text action, you must enter the text to be pasted when you create the command, and it is pasted each time you say the command.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- For people who opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation, Apple says only its own employees, under confidentiality obligations, can access the audio.Apple, Apple, 2026
- Guiding Tech describes corespeechd, the process its Dictation guide asks readers to stop, as a system process on the Mac that takes care of voice recognition.Guiding Tech, 2026
- Guiding Tech's Fix 4 tells readers to delete the speech recognition preference files, which it says also handle dictation, and then restart the Mac.Guiding Tech, 2026
- If a custom command uses a name that another command already uses, Voice Control shows a warning icon next to the duplicate commands in the list.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- 12.3 percent word error rateIn a 2025 9to5Mac test of one 7-minute-31-second episode, the Parakeet v2 speech model had a word error rate of 12.3 percent, the highest of the three engines the author tested.Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac, 2025
- In a 2026 benchmark reported by a blog, the speech company Inscribe said Apple's SpeechAnalyzer beat every Whisper model it ships, including Whisper Small, on the clean and the noisy halves of LibriSpeech.Michael Tsai, Michael Tsai - Blog, 2026
- 87 percentIn a 2026 study of a voice control system for an assistive robotic arm, the voice control achieved a speech recognition accuracy of 87 percent, and its usability score was rated Good.Terrin Pulikottil et al., Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 2026
- In Apple's 2017 Hey Siri article, audio reaches the Siri server only if the stages on the iPhone pass it on.Apple Machine Learning Research, 2017
- In Apple's list of Mac keyboard shortcuts, Option-Delete deletes the word to the left of the insertion point.Apple Support, 2026
- In Apple's Mac Help for macOS High Sierra 10.13, the default Dictation shortcut is pressing the Fn key twice to start or stop dictation.Apple, Apple Support, n.d.
- In Apple's Voice Control settings, the Vocabulary option is dimmed when the selected language does not support a custom vocabulary, so you cannot add terms in that language.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- In Apple's Voice Control, recording how a custom vocabulary term is pronounced requires Dictation to be turned on, but you can save the term without recording it.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- In its Fix 2, Guiding Tech tells readers to run csrutil disable, restart the Mac, and then run a Terminal command that disables the corespeechd process.Guiding Tech, 2026
- 4 options for the fn keyIn Keyboard settings, the 'Press fn key to' option, which sets what the fn or Globe key does, has four choices: Change Input Source, Show Emoji & Symbols, Start Dictation and Do Nothing. Start Dictation starts Dictation when you press the key twice.Apple (Mac User Guide, macOS 27), 2026
- In Keyboard settings, the fn key option can be set to Start Dictation, which starts dictation when you press the key twice.Apple (Mac User Guide, macOS 27), 2026
- In Keyboard settings, the Start Dictation option for the fn key starts Dictation when you press the key twice, and Apple says you may first be asked to enable Dictation.Apple (Mac User Guide, macOS 27), 2026
- In Keyboard Shortcuts settings on a Mac, a warning icon appears next to shortcuts that conflict with one another.Apple, Apple Support, Mac Help, n.d.
- In macOS Catalina, Enhanced Dictation was removed, while the Dictation tab stayed in the Keyboard pane.Eclectic Light Company, 2019
- In Outlook for Mac, you start a new email or a reply, go to the Message menu and choose Dictate, while signed in to Microsoft 365 on a device with a microphone.Microsoft, Microsoft Support, 2026
- In PowerPoint Dictate, you insert punctuation by saying the punctuation word, at any point while you dictate.Microsoft Support, 2026
- In supported languages, Mac Dictation inserts commas, periods and question marks automatically, and you can switch this off with the Auto-punctuation setting in Keyboard settings.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- 9 secondsIn the 2025 9to5Mac test of one 7-minute-31-second episode, Apple's speech API took 9 seconds to transcribe the audio.Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac, 2025
- 40 secondsIn the 2025 9to5Mac test of one 7-minute-31-second episode, Whisper Large V3 Turbo took 40 seconds to transcribe the audio, the longest of the three engines.Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac, 2025
- 11 participantsIn the 2026 robotic-arm study, all but one participant with neurological impairment could use the voice interface, whereas only 11 could operate the joystick.Terrin Pulikottil et al., Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 2026
- In the macOS Big Sur Dictation guide, punctuation is added by saying the name of the mark, such as exclamation mark.Apple, n.d.
- In the macOS Catalina 10.15 Dictation guide, keyboard dictation sends your words to Apple servers to be analyzed and converted to text in real time.Apple, n.d.
- In the macOS Sonoma 14 Dictation guide, in supported languages, Dictation inserts commas, periods and question marks automatically as you dictate.Apple, n.d.
- In the macOS Sonoma 14 Dictation guide, when you dictate on an Intel-based Mac, your dictated utterances are sent to Apple to process your requests.Apple, n.d.
- In the macOS Sonoma 14 Dictation guide, you can type text while dictating, without stopping Dictation first.Apple, n.d.
- In the macOS Sonoma 14 Dictation guide, you insert an emoji by saying its name, such as heart emoji or car emoji.Apple, n.d.
- In the macOS Ventura 13 Dictation guide, Dictation automatically inserts commas, periods and question marks as you dictate.Apple, n.d.
- In the macOS Ventura 13 Dictation guide, you can insert emoji using your voice while dictating, with names such as heart emoji.Apple, n.d.
- In Voice Control settings, the overlay can be set to always show item names, numbers or a numbered grid, and a separate setting can dim it after a period of inactivity.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- In Word for Mac, Microsoft's Dictate starts from Home > Dictate or with the shortcut Option + F1.Microsoft, 2026
- In Word on a Mac, you open a new or existing document and go to Home, then Dictate, while signed into Microsoft 365 on a device with a microphone.Microsoft, 2026
- Karabiner-Elements, a free keyboard remapping tool for macOS, cannot modify the fn key on keyboards that are not made by Apple, such as Logitech keyboards.Karabiner-Elements project, Karabiner-Elements documentation (pqrs.org), n.d.
- Keyboard settings include a Microphone source menu for Dictation; on Automatic, the Mac listens to the device it thinks you are most likely to use.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Mac Dictation inserts an emoji when you say its name followed by the word emoji, such as heart emoji.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- MacMost says its printable dictation cheat sheet works only if Enhanced dictation is turned on in System Preferences, Keyboard, Dictation.MacMost.com, 2019
- MacMost's 2019 PDF cheat sheet lists "Delete that", which deletes the selected text, and "Select all", which selects all text.MacMost.com, 2019
- macOS Tahoe 26 can be installed on some Intel Macs, including the 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2019 and the 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2020 with four Thunderbolt 3 ports.Apple, Apple Support, 2025
- 64 euros, paid onceMacWhisper's Pro license is listed at 64 euros, paid once, and includes lifetime updates. Its Free plan is listed at 0 euros per month.MacWhisper, MacWhisper (vendor website), 2026
- Microsoft says the Dictate in Microsoft 365 steps apply to the desktop versions of Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint in Microsoft 365, or in supported perpetual versions.Microsoft, Microsoft Support, 2026
- Microsoft says the dictation feature in Word is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers.Microsoft, 2026
- Microsoft's Dictate article gives Option + F1 as a keyboard shortcut for starting dictation in Word.Microsoft, 2026
- Microsoft's Dictate in Microsoft 365 article lists Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac and PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac as the apps it applies to.Microsoft, Microsoft Support, 2026
- Microsoft's Dictate in Word article lists Word 2024 for Mac and Word 2021 for Mac, as well as Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac, under the versions it applies to.Microsoft, 2026
- Microsoft's Dictate in Word requires a Microsoft 365 subscription, a microphone and a reliable internet connection.Microsoft, 2026
- Microsoft's steps for dictating in Word say to open a new or existing document and go to Home > Dictate while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device.Microsoft, 2026
- Microsoft's troubleshooting for the Dictate microphone-access message says to make sure no other application or webpage is using the microphone, then try again.Microsoft, 2026
- Microsoft's troubleshooting says that if the Dictate button is grayed out, you should make sure the document is not in a read-only state.Microsoft, 2026
- Microsoft's troubleshooting says that if you cannot see the Dictate button, you should make sure you are signed in with an active Microsoft 365 subscription.Microsoft, 2026
- Most Voice Control commands are on by default, and you can turn individual commands off in the Commands list.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- 15 language variantsOf the 63 language and regional variants Apple lists for Mac Dictation, 15 are not on its on-device and modeless list.Calculated from other facts
- On a Mac with Apple silicon, you can use the keyboard while you dictate, and there is no need to stop Dictation first.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- On a Mac you start Dictation by pressing the Microphone key (on keyboards that have one), pressing the Dictation keyboard shortcut, or choosing Edit > Start Dictation.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- On a Mac, saying "new line" during Dictation is equivalent to pressing the Return key once, and saying "new paragraph" is equivalent to pressing it twice.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- On a Mac, the new line or new paragraph that you say during Dictation appears when you are done dictating, not as you speak.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- On a Mac, turning on Claude Code's voice dictation triggers the macOS microphone permission prompt for your terminal if that permission has never been granted.Anthropic, Anthropic, 2026
- On a Mac, when Voice Control is on, you dictate through Voice Control and standard macOS Dictation is not available.Apple Support, n.d.
- On a Mac, you add a dictation language by going to Dictation, clicking the Edit button next to Languages, and selecting a language and region.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- On a Mac, you start Dictation by pressing the Microphone key, if your keyboard has one, or by using the Dictation keyboard shortcut.Apple Support, n.d.
- On an Apple keyboard, holding the Fn or Globe key while you press a top-row key performs the action assigned to the F key instead of the symbol's feature.Apple Inc., Apple Support, n.d.
- On an Intel-based Mac, Apple says turning off System Integrity Protection removes protection for all partitions on the physical storage device.Apple, 2026
- On macOS Monterey 12 with Apple silicon, general text dictation was processed on the Mac in many languages, and no internet connection was required.Apple Inc., n.d.
- On macOS Monterey 12, you turned Dictation on in the Dictation pane of Keyboard preferences, and your dictated utterances were sent to Apple to process your requests.Apple Inc., n.d.
- On macOS Sonoma 14, Apple's steps for deleting Siri and Dictation history start in System Settings, from Siri & Spotlight in the sidebar.Apple, n.d.
- On macOS Tahoe 26, a Mac with Apple silicon lets you keep using the keyboard while you speak during Dictation.Apple Inc., 2026
- On macOS Tahoe 26, Apple's steps for deleting Siri and Dictation history start by clicking Apple Intelligence & Siri in the System Settings sidebar, or Siri where that is the name shown.Apple, n.d.
- On macOS Tahoe, Apple's steps for deleting Siri and Dictation history end with a Delete Siri & Dictation History button and a second click on Delete to confirm.Apple, n.d.
- On macOS Ventura or later, you can make the top-row keys work as standard function keys without pressing Fn, by choosing Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys under Function Keys in Keyboard settings.Apple Inc., Apple Support, n.d.
- 6.9 times the Whisper error rateOn the same 2025 9to5Mac test episode, Apple's speech API had a word error rate about 6.9 times that of Whisper Large V3 Turbo.Calculated from other facts
- 4.4 times as long as Apple's speech APIOn the same 2025 9to5Mac test episode, Whisper Large V3 Turbo took about 4.4 times as long to transcribe the audio as Apple's speech API.Calculated from other facts
- Pressing and releasing the Microphone key starts Dictation, while pressing and holding it activates Siri, if Siri is enabled.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- Saying "Show commands" displays the Voice Control commands available right now, which change with the app and task.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Saying Make this speakable opens the New Voice Control Command window, where you give the command a name, an app and an action.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- Spelling mode is not available in every Voice Control language.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- 2012 yearSystem-wide Dictation came to the Mac with OS X Mountain Lion, released on July 25, 2012, and could type anywhere you could type.Apple, Apple Newsroom, 2012
- The 9to5Mac author reached Apple's speech API for the 2025 test through Finn Vorhees' open-source command-line tool, also named Yap but unrelated to this site's dictation app, on an M2 Pro MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM.Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac, 2025
- The author of the 2025 9to5Mac test says the models were all evaluated the same way, but that the exact numbers would differ under slightly different methods.Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac, 2025
- The first time you turn on Voice Control, the Mac downloads files from Apple; after that, Voice Control works without an internet connection.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- 4 GB shortThe MacBook Neo has 4 GB less unified memory than the 12 GB that Apple requires for the macOS 27 advanced dictation model.Calculated from other facts
- 2019 yearThe MacMost page for its printable Mac dictation cheat sheet is dated 5/8/19, which is 8 May 2019.MacMost.com, 2019
- 60 percentThe macOS 27 advanced Dictation model covers 60 percent of the English variants in the main Dictation list.Calculated from other facts
- 32 percentThe Voice Control list has about 32 percent as many variants as the main Dictation list.Calculated from other facts
- The whisper.cpp project describes Apple silicon as a first-class target for running OpenAI's Whisper model, optimized through ARM NEON, the Accelerate framework and Metal.Georgi Gerganov, GitHub, 2026
- 3 times faster, at least (more than x3)The whisper.cpp project says that running the Whisper encoder on the Apple Neural Engine through Core ML can be more than three times faster than CPU-only execution on Apple silicon.Georgi Gerganov, GitHub, 2026
- To change the Dictation shortcut on a Mac, you go to Dictation in Keyboard settings, click the Shortcut pop-up menu, and choose a shortcut from the list.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- To delete one custom Voice Control command, you select it in the Custom section at the top of the Commands list and then delete it.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- To increase accuracy when entering letters, you can say the phonetic alphabet code word for each letter; Apple's example is Alfa Bravo Charlie for abc.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- To move the VoiceOver cursor across the screen, you press VO with the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key.Apple Support, 2026
- To open VoiceOver Utility, you turn VoiceOver on with Command-F5, then press VO-Fn-F8.Apple Support, 2026
- To refine a spot on the numbered grid, you say a grid number, and Voice Control shows a more detailed grid in that area.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- To return every keyboard shortcut to its original key combination on a Mac, Apple says to go to Keyboard settings, click Keyboard Shortcuts, then click Restore Defaults in the bottom-left corner.Apple, Apple Support, Mac Help, n.d.
- To review app permissions on a Mac, you choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Privacy & Security in the sidebar, then click Accessibility, and turn permission on or off for any app in the list.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- To show the numbered grid only over the active window, rather than the whole screen, you say Show window grid.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- To stop sharing audio recordings, you go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements and turn off Improve Siri & Dictation.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- To turn on Voice Control on a Mac, you open System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Voice Control, and you may need to scroll down to find it.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- VO-Space bar performs the default action for the item under the VoiceOver cursor, such as clicking a button.Apple Support, 2026
- Voice Control can import custom vocabulary terms from a text file with one term on each line, or from a file that Voice Control exported earlier.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- Voice Control can overlay a numbered grid on the screen so you can click a precise area by number.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Voice Control can show a name or number next to every item on screen, so you can click or act on an item by saying its name or number.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- Voice Control has a Swift mode, in which you say Swift code as you would read it aloud and Voice Control writes the code, handling spacing, operators and capitals.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- 1000 vocabulary termsVoice Control on a Mac accepts up to 1,000 custom vocabulary terms, and you can record how each is pronounced.Apple, Apple Support (Mac User Guide), 2026
- 43 language variantsVoice Control on the Mac covers 43 fewer language and regional variants than Dictation on the Mac.Calculated from other facts
- Voice Control's Spelling mode enters text character by character, for passwords, web addresses and other strings that are not words.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- When a grid area cannot be divided any further, its numbers are no longer framed, and saying a number performs a click.Apple Support, Mac User Guide (macOS 27 version of the page), 2026
- When a third-party app tries to access and control a Mac through accessibility features, the user receives an alert and must specifically grant the app access in Privacy & Security settings.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- When an app's keyboard shortcut conflicts with a macOS keyboard shortcut, Apple says you can turn off the macOS shortcut.Apple, Apple Support, Mac Help, n.d.
- When the VoiceOver modifier is locked, you press Shift and M together for VO-Shift-M, and you lock or unlock the modifier with VO-Semicolon.Apple Support, 2026
- When you enable Dictation, choosing Share Audio Recordings allows Apple to store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions, and Apple may review a sample of it; choosing Not Now declines.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.
- When you export custom Voice Control commands, the apps, documents, Shortcuts and Automator Workflows they refer to are not included, so you must move those files separately.Apple Support, Mac User Guide, 2026
- When you run /voice in Claude Code, dictation turns on in hold mode, and you hold the Space key to record.Anthropic, Anthropic, 2026
- Wispr Flow's privacy page says that dictated audio is sent to the company's servers over an encrypted connection, TLS 1.2 or later, so cloud processing is part of its design.Wispr Flow (vendor website), 2026
- With more than one dictation language set up, you switch languages by clicking the language label next to the cursor or by pressing the Globe key and choosing a language.Apple Inc., Apple Support, Mac User Guide, n.d.