ImageGen Brings Private, On-Device Qwen-Image 2.1 Generation to Apple Silicon Macs

Summary

ImageGen is a native macOS application that runs Qwen-Image 2.1 on an Apple Silicon Mac using Metal/MPS, keeping prompts and generated images on the device after the model and dependencies have been downloaded. It supports text-to-image generation, instruction-based editing, combining as many as 10 reference images, readable text rendering, and transparent RGBA PNG output. Its built-in MCP server lets Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP clients request image generation or editing, inspect status, and receive PNG paths and previews; app and agent requests share a one-job queue. On an M5 Pro MacBook Pro with 64 GB unified memory, the project reports about 20 seconds for a 512-pixel draft, 1.5 to 2 minutes for 1024-square output, and about 5.5 minutes for 2048x1152 output. The model requires about 33 GB of memory and roughly 35 GB of free disk space, with 64 GB recommended; Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later are required. Memory caps, output-size limits, and pressure checks are designed to fail jobs before excessive swapping. The app is MIT-licensed, but Qwen-Image 2.1 is available under a Qwen Research License Agreement that permits non-commercial research and evaluation unless a separate commercial license is obtained.