Install macOS 27 Golden Gate, connect to the internet, and Apple Intelligence arrives whether you asked for it or not. The on-device models download automatically. There is no master switch left to stop them.
Apple’s own support document says the latest features need up to 14GB on Macs with an M3 chip or later and at least 12GB of unified memory, and up to 8GB on other compatible Macs. Real-world Storage readings are often higher.
MacRumors recorded 20.67GB for Apple Intelligence on an M4 Pro Mac mini. Ars Technica saw 22.42GB on an M3 MacBook Air after a fresh install of the 27.0 beta 7. The same storage pane showed about 14GB on an M1 MacBook Air and a MacBook Neo — machines Apple lists in the “up to 8GB” category. Reddit users have posted even larger numbers: 30.16GB on a Release Candidate install and 24.35GB on an M3 Pro MacBook Pro.
Those higher-end systems are using Apple’s AFM 3 Core Advanced on-device model. That still does not explain why lower-spec Macs are also showing more storage use than Apple’s published ceiling. Apple has not said whether the “up to 14GB” figure is meant to match the Apple Intelligence line in System Settings > General > Storage. The same ballooning numbers have not been widely reported on iPhones and iPads running iOS 27 and iPadOS 27.
Using the features is still optional, but hosting the models is not. macOS 27 and iOS 27 removed the toggle that used to disable Apple Intelligence and delete the downloaded files. After install, the next internet connection pulls down a multi-gigabyte package. Siri AI is now treated as a core system component.
That lands at a moment when storage and memory prices are already rising because of AI demand. Users who never wanted Writing Tools, Image Playground, or the new Siri still lose a visible chunk of their internal SSD. Check your own figure in System Settings > General > Storage, then click the information button next to macOS.
How to reclaim the space
Turning Siri off does not delete the models. Apple does not offer a documented “remove models” button. A workaround tested by AppleInsider is to delete the main generative-models folder from Recovery. It is unofficial. Back up first. Results vary, and the models can try to reinstall.
In that test, Storage listed 27.59GB for Apple Intelligence beforehand. After deletion it showed 3.07GB. Available space rose by about 14GB, not the full amount the Storage pane had attributed to the feature. The Mac started normally.
More info here.
MacDailyNews Note: If storage matters more than on-device AI, this method is currently the only practical way to claw most of it back. Apple still has not yet explained why some Macs report twice the official requirement or why the download is mandatory.
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
On my Mac mini M4 it says 28 GB for Mac OS but if I click the i it says AI is using 37 GB. Wow. My iMac M1 is only using 27 GB. So rather than jumping through all the hoops to reclaim anything I decided to just hook up a 4 TB drive I wasn’t using to my Mac Mini (which is where I do most everything) and move all kinds of files to the external drive to free up space on the Mac Mini. Oh well, time marches on.
I moved over 200 GB of files to an external drive, deleted them from the Mac Mini M4 SSD and the available space didn’t change at all. Even after shutting down and restarting. Something funny is going on.
Ok I guess I was in too big a hurry. After doing a Time Machine back up including my new external drive, the available space corrected itself and now reads what I expected.
My files on my M4 Mini 24/512 use just 76GB yet there are only 330GB free – so System + unwanted and unused AI consume around 80GB of storage – that’s around 15% of my 512GB SSD. Unacceptable, 100%!
Not interested in using AI for anything, have switched Siri plus all ‘intelligence’ features off and yet numerous ‘intelligence’ processes and daemons happily running amok on my Mac. Serious regret installing GG.