about this event
The Mobile AI Hackathon brings together Melbourne's most ambitious developers, designers, founders and creators for one intense weekend of building AI-native apps for Apple platforms.
Over approximately 30 hours, you'll form a team, take an idea from concept to a working prototype, learn directly from experienced builders, and present your creation to a panel of founders, senior engineers, and industry partners. Expect workshops, mentoring, great food, new collaborators and a room full of people who genuinely want to ship something remarkable.
This is not a weekend of slide decks and hypothetical ideas. It is a hands-on build sprint focused on what becomes possible when intelligence runs directly on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
You might build: A private, offline experience powered by an on-device LLM or vision model. An intelligent agent or assistant that feels native to the device. A multimodal product combining voice, camera, sensors and spatial computing. An AI application that creates meaningful social or community impact. Something nobody in the room has seen before.
Projects will be judged on innovation, technical craft, impact and the quality of the live demo, with an incredible prize pool across the grand prize, enterprise, visionOS, social-impact, beginner and People's Choice categories.
Prizes are awarded based on team size! Take home some amazing Apple hardware. Exact prizes are dependant on the winning team size, for more information, please see the Prize Pool Information on https://theappblueprint.io/build-weekend
Who should apply? You do not need to arrive with a team or a finished idea. We are looking for: iOS, macOS, visionOS, AI/ML and full-stack developers, Product designers and creative technologists, Founders and independent builders, First-time hackers ready to learn, Experienced engineers ready to push the technology further. Whether you have spent years shipping Apple-platform products or are building your first serious prototype, there will be a place for you to contribute.
Event details: 29–30 August 2026, Melbourne CBD (MLAI @ Stone & Chalk), In person. Attendance is application-based, so we can create a strong, balanced room of builders across engineering, product, design and AI.
Bring your Mac, your curiosity and the willingness to build fast. (We also have a limited pool of loan devices available if required!) Apply to join us and put intelligence in people's pockets 🚀
Applications will be reviewed closer to the event. Only approved applicants will be charged. Approval is based on capacity and balancing the mix of beginner and advanced participants. We want to ensure we have a balanced environment to encourage participation from beginners and experts.
schedule
Mobile AI Hackathon
Building AI-native apps for Apple platforms - day one of the hackathon weekend.
◍ MLAI @ Stone & Chalk, Melbourne CBDMobile AI Hackathon
Building AI-native apps for Apple platforms - day two of the hackathon weekend, with presentations to a panel of founders, senior engineers, and industry partners.
◍ MLAI @ Stone & Chalk, Melbourne CBDtickets
| Ticket | Price | Fee | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $50 | TBA | Available | Application-based attendance. Only approved applicants will be charged. |
prizes
| Place | Prize | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Prize | Apple hardware | TBA |
| Enterprise | Apple hardware | TBA |
| visionOS | Apple hardware | TBA |
| Social-Impact | Apple hardware | TBA |
| Beginner | Apple hardware | TBA |
| People's Choice | Apple hardware | TBA |