Looking for substitute for the old Dragon Dictate that will run on Apple Silicon
I am running a 2019, Intel-based MacBook Pro, 16 inch screen. This one has the touch bar. The battery is starting to lose its capacity. Furthermore, these machines have a problem with very loud cooling fans that seem to be easily triggered, and this has been a royal pain over the past few years, creating unwanted noises during live streaming and video calls. So I am considering replacing it and upgrading to a newer model.
Problem: I am heavily dependent upon dictation software to manage my workload in my office. I have been hobbling along using the old Dragon Dictate for Mac from Nuance. It hasn't been updated in something like five or six years since Nuance abandoned the Mac platform. It is glitchy at times but still, remarkably, runs well enough even under Ventura to still be useful at the office.
Should I, however, upgrade to a new MacBook Pro running an Apple silicon chip, I am out of luck. Apple silicon breaks Dragon Dictate for good. The built-in dictation in Mac OS is simply not robust enough to get real work done. The same thing goes for the dictation functionality built into Microsoft office for Mac applications.
I can run Dragon NaturallySpeaking for the PC under Parallels Desktop, but it makes the fans on the MacBook Pro go bonkers. And I'm not even sure that Parallels Desktop runs on Apple silicon (does it)?
I have taken a look at the open-source project called Talon. I've installed it and have started messing with it a bit, because it would run on one of the new laptops. So far, it is rather difficult to get running properly.
Has anybody with one of the new MacBook Pros found a speech to text solution that is robust and reliable? The lack of first rate dictation software on Mac OS really frustrates me. I've even considered buying a cheap Windows laptop for work just to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Eager for your thoughts… Thank you!!!
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 13.1