Qwen3-TTS for Mac - Run AI Text-to-Speech Locally on Apple Silicon
Run Qwen3-TTS text-to-speech AI locally on your MacBook with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4). No cloud, no API keys, completely offline.
Keywords: Qwen TTS Mac, Qwen3 TTS Apple Silicon, MLX text to speech, local TTS Mac, voice cloning Mac, AI voice generator MacBook
Features
- Voice Cloning - Clone any voice from a 5-second audio sample
- Voice Design - Create new voices by describing them (“deep narrator”, “excited child”)
- Custom Voices - 9 built-in voices with emotion and speed control
- 100% Local - Runs entirely on your Mac, no internet required
- Optimized for M-Series - Uses Apple’s MLX framework for fast GPU inference
Why MLX Models?
MLX models are specifically optimized for Apple Silicon. Compared to running standard PyTorch models:
| Metric |
Standard Model |
MLX Model |
| RAM Usage |
10+ GB |
2-3 GB |
| CPU Temperature |
80-90°C |
40-50°C |
Tested on M4 MacBook Air (fanless) with 1.7B models
MLX runs natively on the Apple Neural Engine and GPU, meaning better performance with less heat and battery drain.
Quick Start (5 Minutes)
1. Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/kapi2800/qwen3-tts-apple-silicon.git
cd qwen3-tts-apple-silicon
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
brew install ffmpeg
2. Download models
Pick the models you need from the table below. Click the link, then click “Download” on HuggingFace.
Pro Models (1.7B) - Best Quality
| Model |
Use Case |
Download |
| CustomVoice |
Preset voices + emotion control |
Download |
| VoiceDesign |
Create voices from text description |
Download |
| Base |
Voice cloning from audio |
Download |
Lite Models (0.6B) - Faster, Less RAM
| Model |
Use Case |
Download |
| CustomVoice |
Preset voices + emotion control |
Download |
| VoiceDesign |
Create voices from text description |
Download |
| Base |
Voice cloning from audio |
Download |
Put downloaded folders in models/:
models/
├── Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-CustomVoice-8bit/
├── Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-VoiceDesign-8bit/
└── Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-Base-8bit/
3. Run
source .venv/bin/activate
python main.py
Usage
========================================
Qwen3-TTS Manager
========================================
Pro Models (1.7B - Best Quality)
---------------------------------
1. Custom Voice
2. Voice Design
3. Voice Cloning
Lite Models (0.6B - Faster)
---------------------------
4. Custom Voice
5. Voice Design
6. Voice Cloning
q. Exit
Select:
- Custom Voice: Pick from preset speakers, set emotion and speed
- Voice Design: Describe a voice (e.g., “calm British narrator”)
- Voice Cloning: Provide a reference audio clip to clone
Tips
- Drag
.txt files directly into the terminal for long text
- Voice cloning works best with clean 5-10 second audio clips
- Speed options: Normal (1.0x), Fast (1.3x), Slow (0.8x)
- Type
q or exit anytime to go back
Requirements
- macOS with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
- Python 3.10+
- RAM: ~3GB for Lite models, ~6GB for Pro models
Troubleshooting
| Issue |
Fix |
mlx_audio not found |
Run source .venv/bin/activate first |
Model not found |
Check model folder names match exactly |
| Audio won’t play |
Check macOS sound output settings |
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