A Tamagotchi for Your MacBook: Pixel Pets for Mac

Published September 2026 · 3 min read · macOS 15 Sequoia+

From the Tamagotchi in 1996 to Touch Bar pets and the MacBook notch, with sources. Plus a pixel pet that lives in your notch today.

Short answer: Nibbii is a pixel pet that lives in your MacBook notch. You feed it, play with it and keep it clean. On a Mac with no notch, it draws its own perch at the top of the screen.

1. The Tamagotchi, and Neko on the Mac

Bandai released the Tamagotchi in Japan in November 1996, and it was released worldwide in 1997.^[1] A Tamagotchi is keychain-sized, and most are small egg-shaped handhelds with three buttons.^[1] You feed the pet meals and snacks, play mini-games with it and clean up after it, and poor care can cause it to die.^[1]

In 1989 Neko, a cat that chases the cursor and began on the NEC PC-9801, was ported to the Macintosh as a desk accessory called NekoDA.^[2]

2. Touch Bar pets, and what came after

Apple introduced the Touch Bar on 27 October 2016 with a new MacBook Pro, as a Multi-Touch display in place of the row of function keys.^[3] The Touchbar Pets project on GitHub describes a pet that lives on your Touch Bar, which you can walk and whose pen you can design.^[4]

The 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pro that Apple announced on 18 October 2021 have physical function keys in place of the Touch Bar.^[5] The 13 inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar was discontinued in October 2023.^[6] The builder of Digital Pets says it was formerly Touchbar Pets.^[7] Digital Pets' own page lists five kinds of companion: dog, cat, rabbit, hamster and turtle.^[8] Digital Pets' own page says it is available exclusively on the Mac App Store.^[8] Digital Pets' FAQ says you do not need a Touch Bar, and that on supported Macs the app also offers a Touch Bar surface.^[9] Digital Pets' FAQ says the pet can live in a desktop terrarium above the Dock.^[9] Digital Pets' FAQ says Studio's My Pet area shows health, hunger, energy, happiness and bond.^[9] Digital Pets' own page names three walk places: Garden, City and Snow.^[8]

3. The MacBook notch

Apple's announcement of the 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pro described a display that extends up around the camera.^[5] Apple's support page says the MacBook Air with Liquid Retina display and the MacBook Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display have a camera housing built into the screen bezel.^[10] This guide calls that camera area the notch.

Nibbii is a pixel pet for the notch:

Home in the notch: A pixel pet that lives in your MacBook notch.
Without a notch: On a Mac with no notch, it draws its own perch at the top of the screen.

For more on how Nibbii sits around the notch, see the MacBook notch pet page.

4. What a pet on your Mac does today

Nibbii is designed to sit quietly in the background while it keeps you company.

Care: The care sheet has Feed, Play and Clean, with Fullness, Energy and Cleanliness meters. The pet shows when it's hungry, bored or dirty.
Growth: Free pets grow through Level 10; later growth stages are Pro.
Music: Nibbii reacts to music playing on your Mac.
Focus: Focus Buddy and focus sprints are Pro.
Conversational memory: With optional AI chat, it remembers what you tell it. AI chat is an optional Pro feature. Pet state and memories are stored locally by default.

Nibbii has an App-aware setting. When App-aware is enabled, Nibbii uses frontmost app metadata. It does not use screen recording, screenshots, or accessibility content. Turning App-aware off stops collection and clears App-aware data. App-aware comments are Pro. Nibbii uses high-privacy defaults. Read the Privacy Notice for the data the app can handle and your choices.

5. Getting started on macOS 15

Ready to bring a little life to your Mac? Nibbii is a Mac app and requires macOS 15+. The base app is free to keep: one starter pet, two worlds, core care and play, simple essentials, and growth through Level 10.

Pro lets you collect all 11 pets and 22 worlds as you play. AI chat is an optional Pro feature. Lifetime Pro is $9.99 once and includes 5,000 bonus Sparks. Monthly is $3.99/month, a separate optional subscription that includes Pro plus 30,000 AI Sparks every month. The first Pro payment has a 14-day refund promise. See the pricing page and the download page.

The desktop pet for Mac page covers other pet apps for Mac, with sources.

Nibbii is strictly for people aged 13+.

6. Sources

The history in sections 1 to 3 comes from these pages. The number after each sentence points to its source.

Meet your new desk companion

Nibbii is a pixel pet that lives in your MacBook notch. The base app is free to keep. AI chat is an optional Pro feature.

Download for Mac See it in action

macOS 15+ and works with or without a notch