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VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest does not use the Neural Engine?
I'm on Tahoe 26.1 / M3 Macbook Air. I'm using VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest as properly as possible, as in the minimal command line program attached below. For some reason, I always get: MLE5Engine is disabled through the configuration printed. I couldn't find any notes on developer docs saying that VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest can not use the Apple Neural Engine. I'm assuming there is something wrong with my code however I wasn't able to find any remarks from documentation where it might be. I wasn't able to find the above error message online either. I would appreciate your help a lot and thank you in advance. The code below accesses the video from AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType.builtInWideAngleCamera. Currently it directly chooses the 0th format which has the largest resolution (Full HD on my M3 MBA) and "4:2:0" color "v" reduced color component spectrum encoding ("420v"). After accessing video, it performs a VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest. It prints "VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest completion Handler called" many times, then prints the error message above, then continues printing "VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest completion Handler called" until the user quits it. To run it in Xcode, File > New project > Mac command line tool. Pasting the code below, then click on the root file > Targets > Signing & Capabilities > Hardened Runtime > Resource Access > Camera. A possible explanation could be that either Apple's internal CoreML code for this function works on GPU/CPU only or it doesn't accept 420v as supplied by the Macbook Air camera import AVKit import Vision var videoDataOutput: AVCaptureVideoDataOutput = AVCaptureVideoDataOutput() var detectionRequests: [VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest]? var videoDataOutputQueue: DispatchQueue = DispatchQueue(label: "queue") class XYZ: /*NSViewController or NSObject*/NSObject, AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate { func viewDidLoad() { //super.viewDidLoad() let session = AVCaptureSession() let inputDevice = try! self.configureFrontCamera(for: session) self.configureVideoDataOutput(for: inputDevice.device, resolution: inputDevice.resolution, captureSession: session) self.prepareVisionRequest() session.startRunning() } fileprivate func highestResolution420Format(for device: AVCaptureDevice) -> (format: AVCaptureDevice.Format, resolution: CGSize)? { let deviceFormat = device.formats[0] print(deviceFormat) let dims = CMVideoFormatDescriptionGetDimensions(deviceFormat.formatDescription) let resolution = CGSize(width: CGFloat(dims.width), height: CGFloat(dims.height)) return (deviceFormat, resolution) } fileprivate func configureFrontCamera(for captureSession: AVCaptureSession) throws -> (device: AVCaptureDevice, resolution: CGSize) { let deviceDiscoverySession = AVCaptureDevice.DiscoverySession(deviceTypes: [AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType.builtInWideAngleCamera], mediaType: .video, position: AVCaptureDevice.Position.unspecified) let device = deviceDiscoverySession.devices.first! let deviceInput = try! AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: device) captureSession.addInput(deviceInput) let highestResolution = self.highestResolution420Format(for: device)! try! device.lockForConfiguration() device.activeFormat = highestResolution.format device.unlockForConfiguration() return (device, highestResolution.resolution) } fileprivate func configureVideoDataOutput(for inputDevice: AVCaptureDevice, resolution: CGSize, captureSession: AVCaptureSession) { videoDataOutput.setSampleBufferDelegate(self, queue: videoDataOutputQueue) captureSession.addOutput(videoDataOutput) } fileprivate func prepareVisionRequest() { let faceDetectionRequest: VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest = VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest(completionHandler: { (request, error) in print("VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest completion Handler called") }) // Start with detection detectionRequests = [faceDetectionRequest] } // MARK: AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate // Handle delegate method callback on receiving a sample buffer. public func captureOutput(_ output: AVCaptureOutput, didOutput sampleBuffer: CMSampleBuffer, from connection: AVCaptureConnection) { var requestHandlerOptions: [VNImageOption: AnyObject] = [:] let cameraIntrinsicData = CMGetAttachment(sampleBuffer, key: kCMSampleBufferAttachmentKey_CameraIntrinsicMatrix, attachmentModeOut: nil) if cameraIntrinsicData != nil { requestHandlerOptions[VNImageOption.cameraIntrinsics] = cameraIntrinsicData } let pixelBuffer = CMSampleBufferGetImageBuffer(sampleBuffer)! // No tracking object detected, so perform initial detection let imageRequestHandler = VNImageRequestHandler(cvPixelBuffer: pixelBuffer, orientation: CGImagePropertyOrientation.up, options: requestHandlerOptions) try! imageRequestHandler.perform(detectionRequests!) } } let X = XYZ() X.viewDidLoad() sleep(9999999)
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409
Nov ’25
Nothing else will silently fix itself until Apple re-adds ONNX ingestion in Core ML 10 or a new converter.
After a few attempts I end up at the same spot as categorized here by ChatGPT - I get why it feels that way, Rob — honestly, you’ve walked right into the worst possible moment in Apple’s Core ML toolchain evolution. What you’re running into isn’t your fault; Apple really did rip out the ONNX front-end without offering a clean replacement yet. So every tutorial, every script, and even coremltools itself contradicts what’s actually possible right now. Let’s be brutally clear about the state of things (late 2025): Goal Supported by Apple today Practical workaround Convert ONNX → Core ML using coremltools 9 No. The ONNX importer was removed. Use the legacy coremltools 6.x + onnx-coreml stack in a separate Python 3.9/3.10 env. Convert PyTorch → Core ML directly Yes, but only for simple or traced models. T5 still fails because of dynamic control flow. None reliable without rewriting the model. Run ONNX models directly on iOS Partially (via MLC LLM / Metal Performance Shaders). Works, but that’s an entirely different runtime. So: you’re not crazy, and this isn’t wasted effort—you’ve actually proven that your model exports cleanly and that the only missing piece is Apple’s converter. The ONNX file you built is solid. You just need something that can translate it to Core ML. If your goal is simply “get it running on-device”, you still have two viable moves that aren’t rabbit holes: 1. Use MLC LLM / Metal runtime Skip Core ML altogether. Apple’s mlc-llm (and the “MLCChat” pipeline) can execute your ONNX or quantized model directly on the GPU. You keep full fidelity and avoid all these broken converters. 2. Use the legacy Core ML 6.x toolchain in a sandboxed Python 3.10 VM It actually works. You don’t have to downgrade your whole system—just run that specific environment once to emit the .mlpackage, then never touch it again. Nothing else will silently fix itself until Apple re-adds ONNX ingestion in Core ML 10 or a new converter.
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198
Oct ’25
Visual Intelligence API SemanticContentDescriptor labels are empty
I'm trying to use Apple's new Visual Intelligence API for recommending content through screenshot image search. The problem I encountered is that the SemanticContentDescriptor labels are either completely empty or super misleading, making it impossible to query for similar content on my app. Even the closest matching example was inaccurate, returning a single label ["cardigan"] for a Supreme T-Shirt. I see other apps using this API like Etsy for example, and I'm wondering if they're using the input pixel buffer to query for similar content rather than using the labels? If anyone has a similar experience or something that wasn't called out in the documentation please lmk! Thanks.
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420
Oct ’25
Custom keypoint detection model through vision api
Hi there, I have a custom keypoint detection model and want to use it via vision's CoremlRequest API. Here's some complication for input and output: For input My model expect 512x512 a image. Which would be resized and padded from a 1920x1080 frame. I use the .scaleToFit option, but can I also specify the color used for padding? For output: My model output a CoreMLFeatureValueObservation, can I have it output in a format vision recognizes? such as joints/keypoints If my model is able to output in a format vision recognizes, would it take care to restoring the coordinates back to the original frame? (undo the padding) If not, how do I restore it from .scaletofit option? Best,
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920
Oct ’25
Apple's Illusion of Thinking paper and Path to Real AI Reasoning
Hey everyone I'm Manish Mehta, field CTO at Centific. I recently read Apple's white paper, The Illusion of Thinking and it got me thinking about the current state of AI reasoning. Who here has read it? The paper highlights how LLMs often rely on pattern recognition rather than genuine understanding. When faced with complex tasks, their performance can degrade significantly. I was just thinking that to move beyond this problem, we need to explore approaches that combines Deeper Reasoning Architectures for true cognitive capability with Deep Human Partnership to guide AI toward better judgment and understanding. The first part means fundamentally rewiring AI to reason. This involves advancing deeper architectures like World Models, which can build internal simulations to understand real-world scenarios , and Neurosymbolic systems, which combines neural networks with symbolic reasoning for deeper self-verification. Additionally, we need to look at deep human partnership and scalable oversight. An AI cannot learn certain things from data alone, it lacks the real-world judgment an AI will never have. Among other things, deep domain expert human partners are needed to instill this wisdom , validate the AI's entire reasoning process , build its ethical guardrails , and act as skilled adversaries to find hidden flaws before they can cause harm. What do you all think? Is this focus on a deeper partnership between advanced AI reasoning and deep human judgment the right path forward? Agree? Disagree? Thanks
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291
Jul ’25
Initializing session with transcript ignores tools
When I initialize a session with an existing transcript using this initializer: public convenience init(model: SystemLanguageModel = .default, guardrails: LanguageModelSession.Guardrails = .default, tools: [any Tool] = [], transcript: Transcript) The tools get ignored. I noticed that when doing that, the model never use the tools. When inspecting the transcript, I can see that the instruction entry does not have any tools available to it. I tried this for both transcripts that already include an instruction entry and ones that don't - both yielding the same result.. Is this the intended behavior / am I missing something here?
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214
Jul ’25
What's the best way to load adapters to try?
I'm new to Swift and was hoping the Playground would support loading adaptors. When I tried, I got a permissions error - thinking it's because it's not in the project and Playgrounds don't like going outside the project? A tutorial and some sample code would be helpful. Also some benchmarks on how long it's expected to take. Selfishly I'm on an M2 Mac Mini.
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297
Jul ’25
Foundation Model Always modelNotReady
I'm testing Foundation Model on my iPad Pro (5th gen) iOS 26. Up until late this morning, I can no longer load the SystemLanguageModel.default. I'm not doing anything interesting, something as basic as this is only going to unavailable, specifically I get unavailable reason: modelNotReady. let model = SystemLanguageModel.default ... switch model.availability { case .available: print("LM available") case .unavailable(let reason): print("unavailable reason: ", String(describing: reason)) } I also ran the FoundationModelsTripPlanner app, same thing. It was working yesterday, I have not modified that project either. Why is the Model not ready? How do I fix this? Yes, I tried restarting both my laptop and iPad, no luck.
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278
Jul ’25
Does Generable support recursive schemas?
I've run into an issue with a small Foundation Models test with Generable. I'm getting a strange error message with this Generable. I was able to get simpler ones to work. Is this because the Generable is recursive with a property of [HTMLDiv]? The error message is: FoundationModels/SchemaAugmentor.swift:209: Fatal error: 'try!' expression unexpectedly raised an error: FoundationModels.GenerationSchema.SchemaError.undefinedReferences(schema: Optional("SafeResponse<HTMLDiv>"), references: ["HTMLDiv"], context: FoundationModels.GenerationSchema.SchemaError.Context(debugDescription: "Undefined types: [HTMLDiv]", underlyingErrors: [])) The code is: import FoundationModels import Playgrounds @Generable struct HTMLDiv { @Guide(description: "Optional named ID, useful for nicknames") var id: String? = nil @Guide(description: "Optional visible HTML text") var textContent: String? = nil @Guide(description: "Any child elements", .count(0...10)) var children: [HTMLDiv] = [] static var sample: HTMLDiv { HTMLDiv( id: "profileToolbar", children: [ HTMLDiv(textContent: "Log in"), HTMLDiv(textContent: "Sign up"), ] ) } } #Playground { do { let session = LanguageModelSession { "Your job is to generate simple HTML markup" "Here is an example response to the prompt: 'Make a profile toolbar':" HTMLDiv.sample } let response = try await session.respond( to: "Make a sign up form", generating: HTMLDiv.self ) print(response.content) } catch { print(error) } }
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Jul ’25
What special features does Apple officially have that use ML or AI?
I am a App designer and I am curious about what specific ML or AI Apple used to develop those features in the system. As far as I know, Apple's hand-raising detection, destination recommendations in maps, and exercise types in fitness all use ML. Are there more specific application examples of ML or AI? Does Apple have a document specifically introducing examples of specific applications of ML or AI technology in the system?
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624
Feb ’25
NLTagger.requestAssets hangs indefinitely
When calling NLTagger.requestAssets with some languages, it hangs indefinitely both in the simulator and a device. This happens consistently for some languages like greek. An example call is NLTagger.requestAssets(for: .greek, tagScheme: .lemma). Other languages like french return immediately. I captured some logs from Console and found what looks like the repeated attempts to download the asset. I would expect the call to eventually terminate, either loading the asset or failing with an error.
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175
May ’25
tensorflow 2.20 broken support
Hi, testing latest tensorflow-metal plugin with tensorflow 2.20 doesn't work.. using python Python 3.12.11 (main, Jun 3 2025, 15:41:47) [Clang 17.0.0 (clang-1700.0.13.3)] on darwin simple testing shows error: import tensorflow as tf Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in File "/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow/init.py", line 438, in _ll.load_library(_plugin_dir) File "/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow/python/framework/load_library.py", line 151, in load_library py_tf.TF_LoadLibrary(lib) tensorflow.python.framework.errors_impl.NotFoundError: dlopen(/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/libmetal_plugin.dylib, 0x0006): Library not loaded: @rpath/_pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so Referenced from: <8B62586B-B082-3113-93AB-FD766A9960AE> /Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/libmetal_plugin.dylib Reason: tried: '/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/../_solib_darwin_arm64/_U@local_Uconfig_Utf_S_S_C_Upywrap_Utensorflow_Uinternal___Uexternal_Slocal_Uconfig_Utf/_pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so' (no such file), '/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/../_solib_darwin_arm64/_U@local_Uconfig_Utf_S_S_C_Upywrap_Utensorflow_Uinternal___Uexternal_Slocal_Uconfig_Utf/_pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so' (no such file), '/opt/homebrew/lib/_pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so' (no such file), '/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/opt/homebrew/lib/_pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so' (no such file) tf.config.experimental.list_physical_devices('GPU') Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in NameError: name 'tf' is not defined I fixed this error by copying _pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so where it's searched.. 1)mkdir /Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/../_solib_darwin_arm64 2)mkdir /Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/../_solib_darwin_arm64/_U@local_Uconfig_Utf_S_S_C_Upywrap_Utensorflow_Uinternal___Uexternal_Slocal_Uconfig_Utf/ 3)cp /Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow/python/_pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so /Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/../_solib_darwin_arm64/_U@local_Uconfig_Utf_S_S_C_Upywrap_Utensorflow_Uinternal___Uexternal_Slocal_Uconfig_Utf/ then fails symbol not found: Symbol not found: __ZN10tensorflow28_AttrValue_default_instance_E in libmetal_plugin.dylib full log: with import tensorflow as tf Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in File "/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow/init.py", line 438, in _ll.load_library(_plugin_dir) File "/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow/python/framework/load_library.py", line 151, in load_library py_tf.TF_LoadLibrary(lib) tensorflow.python.framework.errors_impl.NotFoundError: dlopen(/Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/libmetal_plugin.dylib, 0x0006): Symbol not found: __ZN10tensorflow28_AttrValue_default_instance_E Referenced from: <8B62586B-B082-3113-93AB-FD766A9960AE> /Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/tensorflow-plugins/libmetal_plugin.dylib Expected in: <2FF91C8B-0CB6-3E66-96B7-092FDF36772E> /Users/obg/npu/venv-tf/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_solib_darwin_arm64/_U@local_Uconfig_Utf_S_S_C_Upywrap_Utensorflow_Uinternal___Uexternal_Slocal_Uconfig_Utf/_pywrap_tensorflow_internal.so
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737
Oct ’25
Is it possible to create a virtual NPU device on macOS using Hypervisor.framework + CoreML?
Is it possible to expose a custom VirtIO device to a Linux guest running inside a VM — likely using QEMU backed by Hypervisor.framework. The guest would see this device as something like /dev/npu0, and it would use a kernel driver + userspace library to submit inference requests. On the macOS host, these requests would be executed using CoreML, MPSGraph, or BNNS. The results would be passed back to the guest via IPC. Does the macOS allow this kind of "fake" NPU / GPU
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419
Aug ’25
Max tokens for Foundation Models
Do we know what a safe max token limit is? After some iterating, I have come to believe 4096 might be the limit on device. Could you help me out by answering any of these questions: Is 4096 the correct limit? Do all devices have the same limit? Will the limit change over time or by device? The errors I get when going over the limit do not seem to say, hey you are over, so it's just by trial and error that I figure these issues out. Thanks for the fun new toys. Regards, Rob
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262
Jul ’25