[macOS] Chat mode stuck on Instant after Pro limit reached; Medium/High/Extra High still available on web/iOS

What issue are you seeing?

In the current ChatGPT desktop app on macOS, Chat mode is restricted to Instant only, even though the same ChatGPT Pro account can still select Medium, High, and Extra High on chatgpt.com and in the iOS app.

The Pro model allowance has genuinely been reached, and iOS correctly shows Pro disabled with a reset time of 6 Sep 2026 at 20:40. However, iOS and web continue to allow Medium, High, and Extra High as expected.

On the Mac desktop app, Chat incorrectly offers/retains only Instant. Work mode in the same Mac app still allows its normal model choices, so this appears isolated to the Chat model/reasoning picker or its handling of the exhausted Pro allowance.

This looks related to #42435 (Windows: reasoning effort resets from Extra High to Instant), but this report is specifically for macOS and has a useful additional trigger/state: the Pro model allowance is exhausted while lower reasoning levels remain available on other clients.

Environment

• Subscription: ChatGPT Pro ($100/month tier)
• macOS, Apple Silicon
• ChatGPT desktop version: 26.901.20858 (build 7658)
• Observed: 3 Sep 2026
• Same account tested on:
  • iOS: Medium / High / Extra High selectable; Pro correctly disabled until reset
  • chatgpt.com on the Mac: normal model/reasoning choices selectable
  • macOS desktop Chat: Instant only
  • macOS desktop Work: normal model choices available

Steps to reproduce / observed sequence

1. Use a ChatGPT Pro account whose Pro model-specific allowance has been exhausted.
2. Confirm on iOS that Pro is disabled with its reset time but Medium, High, and Extra High remain selectable.
3. Confirm on chatgpt.com that the non-Pro reasoning/model choices remain available.
4. Open Chat in ChatGPT Desktop for macOS 26.901.20858.
5. Open the model/reasoning selector.
6. Observe that Chat is effectively restricted to Instant rather than allowing Medium, High, or Extra High.
7. Switch to Work in the same desktop app and observe that Work's model selection still functions.

Troubleshooting already attempted

• Updated the Mac app to the newest version offered by the updater (26.901.20858).
• Signed out of ChatGPT desktop.
• Restarted the Mac.
• Signed back in.
• Confirmed the issue persists.
• Confirmed web and iOS are unaffected.

No local application-support/cache files have been deleted or modified.

Expected behaviour

Exhausting the Pro model allowance should disable Pro until its reset time, but Medium, High, and Extra High should remain selectable in Chat, matching iOS and chatgpt.com.

Actual behaviour

The macOS desktop Chat surface falls back to / remains stuck on Instant only, despite the same account retaining access to Medium, High, and Extra High elsewhere.

Why this appears to be a desktop-client bug rather than an account limit

The same account simultaneously exposes Medium, High, and Extra High on iOS and web. Work model selection also works in the same Mac app. The only failing surface is desktop Chat.

There are recent related desktop selector/state reports, including #42435 on Windows, where Extra High immediately resets to Instant. This may share the same model/reasoning-state handling code.

Impact

This makes the native Mac Chat surface substantially less useful for Pro subscribers after only the Pro-specific allowance is exhausted, because it incorrectly removes the intermediate reasoning levels that remain available on other clients.

Reproduce the issue in the macOS desktop Chat model/reasoning selector with a Pro account whose allowance is exhausted, then compare Chat with Work and the unaffected web and iOS surfaces. Trace the selector's handling of the exhausted Pro state; done means Chat still offers Medium, High, and Extra High while Pro remains disabled until reset.