GPT-5 delivers major advances in ‘Vibe Coding’ for macOS and iOS projects

Developers experimenting with “vibe coding”:  the process of building applications by directing large language models through natural language prompts, are reporting significant improvements with GPT-5. According to former The Verge journalist Parker Ortolani, who has tested the method for months, GPT-5 is the first model to provide a fully reliable and design-focused coding experience.

In a recent blog post, Ortolani noted that GPT-5 produces polished, coherent user interfaces without requiring explicit design instructions. Earlier models such as GPT-4o and Anthropic’s Claude could generate functional prototypes, but often required heavy prompting to achieve a visually appealing result, and were prone to introducing bugs during the build process. Ortolani said GPT-5 has not caused a single build error in Xcode so far, while also delivering more consistent results in complex problem-solving.

The model’s faster troubleshooting capabilities are another key improvement. Ortolani cited examples where GPT-4o needed multiple interactions to resolve technical issues, whereas GPT-5 handled them instantly, including enabling local AI models to parse live webpages in a macOS browser project. GPT-5 has also shown greater versatility, creating complete applications, games, and simulations from a single prompt.

Other developers echo these findings. Using GPT-5 integrated with ChatGPT and connected to Xcode, some are now building projects beyond simple utilities. One such project, LaunchBay, serves as a personal alternative to Apple’s Launchpad in macOS Tahoe, developed entirely through plain-English instructions without prior coding experience.