Anthropic rolled out computer use for Claude on March 23, giving the AI assistant the ability to operate a Mac the way a person would: clicking through apps, navigating browsers, filling out spreadsheets, running dev tools. The feature launched as a research preview for Pro and Max subscribers through Claude Cowork and Claude Code.
The setup works like this: Claude first checks whether it has a connector for the task (Google Calendar, Slack, etc.). If not, it falls back to screen-level control, pointing and clicking its way through whatever software is open. It pairs with Dispatch, a mobile feature that launched last week, letting users assign tasks from their phone while Claude executes them on the desktop.
Anthropic isn't overselling it. "Computer use is still early compared to Claude's ability to code or interact with text," the company wrote. Claude asks permission before touching a new application, and users can interrupt at any time. The company recommends keeping sensitive data away from the feature during the preview.
The timing is notable. Anthropic acquired Vercept in February specifically to push computer use capabilities further, and Sonnet 4.6 hit 72.5% on the OSWorld benchmark, up from under 15% when computer use first shipped in late 2024. That's approaching human-level performance on tasks like navigating spreadsheets across browser tabs, according to Anthropic's own testing.
macOS only for now. No Windows timeline has been announced. Competitors including OpenAI and Google are building similar capabilities, and the open-source OpenClaw agent already has over 320,000 GitHub stars doing roughly the same thing with fewer guardrails.
Bottom Line
Claude can now control Mac desktops through Cowork and Code, with Sonnet 4.6 scoring 72.5% on OSWorld (company-reported), but the feature remains macOS-only and in research preview.
Quick Facts
- Available to Claude Pro ($20/mo) and Max ($100-200/mo) subscribers
- macOS only; no Windows support announced
- Research preview status, not general availability
- Sonnet 4.6 scores 72.5% on OSWorld (company-reported, up from under 15% in late 2024)
- Pairs with Dispatch mobile feature launched March 17, 2026
