Apple Intelligence off switch missing in macOS 27: what you can still turn off
A note before you start: nothing in this guide deletes system files. Apple documents no supported way to remove the on-device models, and we say so plainly rather than pretend otherwise.
On macOS 26 Tahoe, turning off Apple Intelligence took a single switch. On macOS 27 Golden Gate, that switch is gone. If you went looking for it after updating, you didn’t miss it: several outlets, MacRumors among them, report that Apple removed the master toggle, and that the on-device models now download automatically after the update, whether or not you plan to use them. The original walkthrough comes from MacHabits.
That leaves two separate questions, and they have different answers. Can you turn the features off? Yes, one at a time. Can you get the disk space back? Apple doesn’t document a way to. It helps to keep the two apart, because switching a feature off and reclaiming storage are different things.
What changed from Tahoe
In Tahoe, System Settings had an Apple Intelligence & Siri pane with a single on/off switch at the top. In Golden Gate, Apple replaced it with per-feature controls. Apple’s own support page, titled “Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac,” walks through those controls rather than offering one global button. Coverage of the page counts roughly ten separate settings, spread across System Settings and individual apps. In practice, that means visiting several places instead of one.
Two side effects are worth knowing about:
- Your old choice may not carry over. Some users report that Apple Intelligence was active again after upgrading, even though they had switched it off in Tahoe. Check after the update instead of assuming it stayed off.
- Managed Macs are harder. Reports citing Apple’s documentation say that disabling it through device management requires a supervised device, and many organizations don’t supervise every Mac. If you administer a fleet, check how your devices are enrolled before you plan around a policy.
What you can still turn off
These are the controls described in Apple’s guide and in the coverage of it. Exact labels can differ a little by Mac and region, and Apple notes that Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 isn’t available in every language or region, so you may not see all of them.
- Siri AI. Open System Settings > Siri, choose Turn Off Siri and confirm.
- Siri Classic instead of the new Siri. Turn Siri off as above, turn it back on, and pick Use Siri Classic when asked. This keeps the voice assistant without the AI features, which makes it the closest thing to a middle path.
- Siri suggestions in apps. In the same Siri settings, switch off app suggestions from Siri if you don’t want them.
- Summaries. Notification, Messages and Mail summaries are controlled separately. Check each of those places and turn summaries off wherever you find them.
- Writing and image tools, and the ChatGPT extension. These have their own switches in the apps and settings that offer them.
- Screen Time restrictions. Under Content & Privacy Restrictions you can allow or block specific Siri AI capabilities, such as image creation, sensitive topics or explicit language. This is the closest thing to a central control, and it’s especially useful for a shared or family Mac.
None of these remove the models from your disk. They stop features from being offered or used, and that is all they do. Apple’s guide doesn’t claim to reclaim storage.
Does turning it off free space?
No, and the numbers are bigger than Apple’s own estimate. Apple’s documentation lists up to 14 GB for Macs with an M3 or later and at least 12 GB of memory, and up to 8 GB for other supported Macs. Independent measurements have come out higher:
| Source | Mac | Apple Intelligence storage |
|---|---|---|
| MacRumors | M4 Pro Mac mini | about 20.7 GB |
| Ars Technica (beta build) | M3 MacBook Air | about 22.4 GB |
| AppleInsider | Test Mac, before any changes | about 27.6 GB |
| Reddit user (unverified) | Release candidate | about 30 GB |
Another test, on an M1 MacBook Air, found roughly 17 GB more disk use than Tahoe with the feature off. Apple hasn’t said whether the gap comes from the models themselves, leftover caches, or other system data being counted in the same category. So treat every figure above as a rough guide, not a promise of what your own Mac will show.
Check your own number first. Open System Settings > General > Storage and click the info button next to macOS. Not every Mac shows a separate Apple Intelligence line, and a large System Data figure on its own doesn’t prove the models are the cause. If that’s your situation, see our System Data guide.
The “delete the models” trick, explained
You may have seen posts claiming that a command can switch Apple Intelligence off and delete about 12 GB of models. The only documented method we found comes from a single AppleInsider test, and it isn’t an Apple-supported procedure:
- The tester booted into Recovery and used Terminal to delete one folder, named
com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels, inside the AssetsV2 folder on the Data volume. - The Storage pane’s reading for Apple Intelligence dropped from about 27.6 GB to about 3 GB, but real free space rose by only about 14 GB (from 337 GB to 351 GB). The pane and the actual disk don’t match one to one.
- The Mac restarted normally. One beta tester separately reported that macOS downloaded the models again later.
We aren’t printing the commands, and we don’t recommend this. It’s irreversible, it touches system folders from Recovery, and one wrong path or wildcard can delete the wrong thing. A single successful test also doesn’t show that the change survives the next update. Unless you’re in a genuine low-storage emergency, skip it.
The Siri language tip from Reddit
One popular Reddit post claims that changing Siri’s language to Chinese freed 18 to 19 GB. We couldn’t verify it, and Apple doesn’t document it. Forum reports on iOS 27 describe a related effect: switching Siri to a language where the AI features aren’t available can shrink the Apple Intelligence storage line without fully clearing it. It also changes how Siri works for you day to day. Treat it as an experiment you can reverse, not a fix.
What to do instead
- Turn off what you don’t want, feature by feature, and re-check after each macOS update.
- Free other space first. Clear old installers, large downloads and unused apps. See how much space Golden Gate needs and our Apple Intelligence storage guide.
- Keep headroom on small drives. On a 256 GB Mac, 20 GB is close to 8 percent of the disk, which is a lot to give up.
- Wait for a point release before touching system folders. Apple hasn’t published a fix or an explanation. Our macOS 27.1 guide tracks what to expect.
- If the missing switch is a dealbreaker, staying on Tahoe is a legitimate choice, as long as you install the security patch (see which update your Mac needs).
For the original step-by-step version, see the MacHabits guide to the missing Apple Intelligence switch in macOS 27.
The short version
- macOS 27 has no master Apple Intelligence switch. You disable features individually.
- Siri Classic and Screen Time restrictions are the main tools. Neither frees disk space.
- Real usage on many Macs runs well above Apple’s 8 to 14 GB estimate.
- The Recovery Terminal method is unsupported and risky. Don’t use it unless storage is critical and you have a backup.
More on this change: Apple Intelligence off switch gone in macOS 27, explained on MacHabits.
Source: https://blog.machabits.info/articles/apple-intelligence-off-switch-missing-macos-27