If you’ve been running low on storage on your iPhone or iPad, you might want to reconsider enabling Apple Intelligence. While its features sound impressive, the latest update in iOS 18.2 shows a significant increase in storage requirements. Initially, Apple Intelligence needed 4GB of space when introduced in iOS 18.1. With iOS 18.2, that requirement has jumped to a hefty 7GB. So, what’s causing this shift?
Why Does Apple Intelligence Need So Much Storage?
Apple Intelligence operates primarily on-device for processing features like:
Text summaries
Image Playground
Image Wand
Writing tools
Genmoji
These features require local AI libraries, caches, and temporary files. As a result, devices nearing their storage limit may feel the crunch.
A recent survey by SellCell revealed that 73% of Apple users believe AI adds little to no value to their phone experience. If you’re among them, turning off Apple Intelligence might be an appealing option and it’s easy to do.
Steps to Disable Apple Intelligence Entirely
Want to turn off Apple Intelligence completely? Follow these steps:
Open Settings (iPhone/iPad) or System Settings (Mac).
Navigate to Apple Intelligence & Siri.
Toggle off Apple Intelligence.
Confirm your choice by tapping Turn Off Apple Intelligence in the dialog box.
Features You’ll Lose When You Disable It:
Writing tools
Notification summaries
Visual Intelligence (available on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro)
Genmoji
Image Playground (creation of new images)
ChatGPT support for Siri
Image Wand in the Notes app
Notably, the Clean Up tool in Photos remains available even after turning off Apple Intelligence, likely because its resources are downloaded during the first use.
How to Turn Off Specific Features
If you find some Apple Intelligence features helpful and others annoying, you can selectively disable them:
To disable text summaries in Messages notifications:
Go to Settings > Apps > Messages.
Switch off the Summarize Messages option.
For Writing Tools that appear system-wide when selecting text, you need to disable Apple Intelligence entirely.
Additionally, most apps have an Apple Intelligence & Siri option in their settings. This includes a Learn from this App toggle (enabled by default), allowing you to control app-specific AI suggestions.
Checking Apple Intelligence Storage Usage
Curious about how much space Apple Intelligence is taking? You can find this information here:
Open Settings.
Go to General > iPhone (or iPad) Storage > iOS (or iPadOS).
Unfortunately, turning off Apple Intelligence does not reclaim the storage it’s already using. From testing, the storage space occupied remains unchanged even after disabling the feature and restarting the device.
FAQs
Apple Intelligence stores AI libraries, temporary files, and caches locally on your device. With iOS 18.2, it now requires a minimum of 7GB of storage.
- Go to Settings (iPhone/iPad) or System Settings (Mac).
- Select Apple Intelligence & Siri.
- Toggle off Apple Intelligence and confirm your choice.
You will lose access to features like writing tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, and text summaries, among others. Some features like the Clean Up tool in Photos may remain active.
Yes, you can disable individual features in their respective app settings. For example, to turn off text summaries in Messages, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Summarize Messages and toggle it off.
Unfortunately, disabling Apple Intelligence does not reclaim the storage it uses, as the AI libraries and data remain on the device.
Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > iOS to see the storage usage for Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence is available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 series, M-series Macs, and the latest iPads, including the newest iPad Mini.
Yes, you can turn Apple Intelligence back on anytime from Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri.
Conclusion
Apple Intelligence is still an evolving technology. While it’s heavily hyped, some users may prefer to wait until the features are more refined. For now, you have the flexibility to manage these features and reclaim storage as needed. If you’re running iOS 18.2, take control of your device today and decide what works best for you!