In short: on a Mac with Apple silicon, Apple Dictation processes many languages on the Mac itself. On older Intel Macs, and for languages without on-device support, your audio goes to Apple’s servers. On recent macOS versions, Apple’s advice is to read the short text under Dictation in Keyboard settings, which says whether your dictation is processed on your device. Separately, a setting called Improve Siri & Dictation controls whether you share recordings with Apple. VybeScript, a paid app, does all of its listening, typing and clean-up on your Mac.

At a glance

Why the answer is “it depends”

Turning speech into text takes a lot of computing. Newer Macs with Apple silicon can do it themselves for many languages. Older Macs, and some languages, can’t, so the recording is sent to Apple, turned into text there, and the text comes back.

Apple’s guide for macOS Sonoma (version 14) put it simply: on a Mac with Apple silicon, Dictation requests are processed on your device for supported languages, and no internet connection is required. On macOS Tahoe (version 26) and later, Apple no longer gives a single blanket rule. Instead, it tells you to read the text under Dictation in Keyboard settings, which says whether your general dictation is “processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers”. Dictating into search boxes is excluded from that.

Sources: Apple’s Dictation guides for macOS Sonoma 14 and macOS Tahoe 26, checked 2026-10-01.

Check your own Mac in two minutes

  1. Find out which chip you have. Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner and choose About This Mac. If it says Chip and Apple M1, M2, M3, M4 or newer, you have Apple silicon. If it says Processor and Intel, your dictation audio goes to Apple.
  2. Read the note under Dictation. Open the Apple menu > System Settings > Keyboard and scroll to Dictation. Read the small text there: it says whether dictation is processed on your device.
  3. Check which languages you use. Next to Languages, click Edit. If you dictate in more than one language, the on-device note can differ from one language to another, so check after adding one.
  4. Check the sharing setting. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements and look at Improve Siri & Dictation. Turn it off if you don’t want to share recordings with Apple.

When you first switch Dictation on, the Mac asks whether to Share Audio Recordings or choose Not Now. Many people click through that box without reading it. Step 4 is where you can change your answer later.

A simple test anyone can do

Turn off Wi-Fi from the menu bar, open a note and try to dictate a sentence. If the words appear, the speech-to-text is running on your Mac. If dictation stops working, it needed the internet. (Apple’s own troubleshooting page notes that you “may need an internet connection” and points back to the same text under Dictation.) Turn Wi-Fi back on when you’re done.

Other dictation you might be using

If you want your voice to stay on your Mac

If you have an Apple silicon Mac and the note under Dictation says your dictation is processed on your device, Apple’s free Dictation may be all you need. Turn off Improve Siri & Dictation too if you prefer not to share recordings.

VybeScript is built so that nothing you say leaves the Mac. The recording, the transcription and the clean-up (removing the “um”s, fixing punctuation, the optional rewrite styles) all happen on your Mac. There’s no account, and no analytics in the app. It connects to the internet only to activate your license, check for updates, download the speech model once, and, only if you choose to turn it on, send short technical error reports that never include audio or text. If you ever caught VybeScript sending your audio or your words off your Mac, you’d get a full refund, at any time.

VybeScript needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. For the technical detail of how on-device dictation works, see offline dictation on Mac.

Keep going

Questions

Dictation starts when you press the Dictation shortcut or choose Edit > Start Dictation, and stops when you press it again, press Escape, or after 30 seconds of silence. VybeScript records only between your two taps of the Option key (or while you hold Control, if you choose that).
Yes. Organizations that manage Macs can turn on a restriction that keeps dictation on the device (macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon), or turn dictation off entirely.
Only if you turn on transcript history, which is off unless you enable it. History is stored only on your Mac and you can clear it. VybeScript doesn’t read your screen.
VybeScript makes no HIPAA or other compliance claims and holds no certifications. What it offers is simpler: your audio and text don’t leave your Mac, which you can test yourself with Wi-Fi off.