Apple Intelligence Storage Requirements Double, Raising Concerns Among iPhone Users

Apple Intelligence Is Now Eating More iPhone Storage. Here's How to Turn It Off

If your iPhone or iPad is running short of free storage, you may think twice about enabling Apple Intelligence. When the first features were made available in iOS 18.1, Apple said the Apple Intelligence features needed at least 4GB of space. Now with iOS 18.2, that requirement has jumped to 7GB. What's going on? Since much of the processing for features such as text summaries, Image Playground, Image Wand, writing tools and Genmoji happen on-device, iOS needs to store AI libraries locally and uses some storage for caches and other temporary files. That makes things tighter if you were already running up against the edges of your device's storage. See also: How to reclaim iCloud storage. It could also be that you're simply not interested, which would put you into the majority. A new survey by SellCell indicates that 73% of Apple users think AI adds little to no value to the phone experience, while CNET found that 25% of smartphone owners are not interested at all. If Apple Intelligence holds no appeal for you, or if you'd rather wait until the tech matures a bit more, it's easy to turn it off entirely or selectively disable some of the features. I'm not an AI crank -- I appreciate features such as notification summaries and the Clean Up tool in the Photos app. And yet, Apple Intelligence is also a work in progress, an evolving set of features that Apple is heavily hyping while gradually developing. I wouldn't hold it against you if you wanted to not be distracted or feel like you're doing Apple's testing for them (that's what the developer and public betas are for). Remember that Apple Intelligence works only on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro or M-series Macs and iPads (plus the newest iPad mini). And if you've already updated to iOS 18.2, you need to add yourself to the queue for access to the new features. (Curiously, the Clean Up tool in Photos sticks around even when Apple Intelligence is turned off, perhaps because the first time you use it the app downloads resources for it.) Maybe you're finding some Apple Intelligence features helpful while others are annoying (or just highly amusing). You can turn off specific features in the settings for apps to which they apply. For example, to disable text summaries in Messages notifications, go to Settings > Apps > Messages and switch off the Summarize Messages option. Some features are not as app-specific. Writing Tools, which use Apple Intelligence to proof or rewrite text, appear as an option when you select text, regardless of the app. To turn that off, you need to disable Apple Intelligence system-wide. Also note that nearly every app includes an Apple Intelligence & Siri option in Settings, with a Learn from this App option (turned on by default). That applies just to whether Apple Intelligence and Siri can monitor how you use it to make suggestions; it doesn't affect any particular Apple Intelligence features. If you're concerned about the storage requirements of Apple Intelligence, you can find out how much the system is using by going to Settings > General > iPhone (or iPad) Storage > iOS (or iPadOS). Unfortunately, from my testing it does not appear that turning off Apple Intelligence reclaims that storage space: After doing so and restarting my devices, the Apple Intelligence item and amount are unchanged.

Apple Intelligence Now Needs At Least 7GB Space on Each Device

As your iPhone gets more AI features, it'll need more storage space to handle it. If you've been using Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you'll have to make a bit more room to use Apple's AI features. At the time of launch, Apple Intelligence's minimum system requirements included 4GB of storage space, but that has increased significantly in a recent update, spotted by 9to5Mac. At the time of writing, every device that uses Apple Intelligence requires a minimum of 7GB of space. Why Apple Intelligence needs storage space Since a lot of Apple Intelligence processing happens on-device, it needs to store data on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. The required storage space for Apple Intelligence will keep increasing as Apple adds more features to its AI portfolio. As of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS 15.2, this is the full list of Apple Intelligence features: The minimum storage requirements have increased thanks to the additional AI features that were launched with iOS 18.2. You can expect it to go up further in the future, if and when Apple Intelligence gets more features. How to check how much space Apple Intelligence occupies on your iPhone, iPad, Mac You can easily find out how much storage space Apple Intelligence is taking up on your devices. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage > iOS/iPadOS. On your Mac, you can visit System Settings > General > Storage > macOS. On my Mac, Apple Intelligence had been taking up around 3.1GB until a few weeks ago, and that number has gone up to 5.5GB today. Can I delete Apple Intelligence data from my device? There's no easy way to remove Apple Intelligence data from your device. It appears to take up lots of space even if you turn it off or if it's unavailable in your iPhone's language. Having said that, some Reddit users have reportedly discovered a hack that deletes Apple Intelligence storage data from their devices. To make it work, you need to turn off Apple Intelligence on your device first. On your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and turn off Apple Intelligence. After this, if your Apple device comes close to running out of storage, it'll automatically offload Apple Intelligence data and free up precious space. I wish there was a way to manually delete Apple Intelligence data or delete selective components of it that I'm not using. For instance, if I turn off notification summaries or writing tools, Apple should let me delete the storage associated with those features. At the moment, the hack to free up storage is a bit extreme as it requires you to stop using AI features altogether.

Apple Intelligence now needs 7GB of storage, up from 4GB - here's why

You may need to free up some space on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to run all the AI features that Apple has introduced. Those of you who activate and run Apple Intelligence on your devices will now need a bit more space to handle the latest AI skills. In December, Apple updated its Apple Intelligence requirements page to reveal that 7 GB of storage is now required, as spotted by 9to5Mac. That's up from the initial demand of 4GB of free space. If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac with hundreds of gigabytes of storage, that requirement shouldn't be too onerous. But if your device came with a small amount of real estate, say 128GB, and you're already running low, then the Apple Intelligence requirement could pose a problem. Plus, you can't selectively turn specific AI features on or off; it's all or nothing. Also: iOS 18.2 was killing my iPhone's battery until I turned off this feature On the initial version of its Apple Intelligence requirements page, Apple did include a footnote explaining that "storage requirements for on-device Apple Intelligence models will increase as more features roll out." So even that 4GB requirement was just a starting point. Why the need for additional space at this point? Apple pretty much spelled it out. The 4GB demand was in place in September before the company had even officially rolled out iOS 18.1, the first version of iOS with Apple Intelligence. The same held true for iPadOS and MacOS Sequoia. Those versions offered only a few AI-powered tidbits, including Writing Tools, a new visual look for Siri, notification summaries, and the ability to record and view summaries of your phone calls. But now we're up to iOS 18.2 (as well as iPadOS 18.2 and MacOS Sequoia 15.2). These latest updates include ChatGPT integration, the Image Playground, Image Wand, Genmoji, and Visual Intelligence, all of which naturally take up more storage space. Also: I replaced my iPhone 16 Pro Max with this pocket camera for video shooting - and can't go back So will 7GB be the ultimate amount required? The Apple Intelligence requirements page no longer includes a footnote telling you that storage requirements will increase as more features roll out. However, more AI-based features are in the works for iOS 18.3 and especially 18.4, due out in March. So far, the rumored features focus on Siri with such enhancements as onscreen awareness and app integration. Unless Apple has already factored in the Siri upgrades, those features could easily require more storage. What can you do if your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is low on storage? You can simply turn off Apple Intelligence so it doesn't chew up any space. But assuming you want to take advantage of the AI tech, Apple can help you free up storage. Head to Settings on your iPhone or iPad and System Settings on your Mac. Go to General and select Storage. Apple will offer a few suggestions for cleaning up your device, mostly notably by offloading features and data you may not need.

Apple Intelligence now takes up almost twice as much room on your iPhone as it used to

Over the last year or so we've heard plenty about Apple Intelligence and how it's going to transform the way we use our Apple devices - and it seems the AI tech is also going to take up more internal storage on those devices too. As spotted by 9to5Mac, the recently launched iOS 18.2 update needs 7GB of free local storage to install Apple Intelligence, according to Apple's website. When the AI features started appearing in iOS 18.1, the requirement was 4GB. It's no surprise that the iOS 18.2 update requires so much more space on your device: it includes a wealth of new AI tricks, including the integration of ChatGPT with the Siri smart assistant, Genmoji, and Visual Intelligence. The first batch of Apple Intelligence features that showed up with iOS 18.1 back in October included Writing Tools and Notification Summaries. These upgrades are going to continue to show up gradually as we make our way towards iOS 19 next year. Apple likes as much of its AI to run locally as possible: not relying on the cloud means faster response times and improved user privacy. As we're now seeing though, there is a cost in terms of storage space. You can turn off Apple Intelligence if you want to: the setting is under Apple Intelligence & Siri on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. You can also choose to not install it in the first place, because it's not enabled by default on these devices. However, you can't pick and choose the AI features you want: It's all or nothing. If you're running low on storage space on your device, then you may have to think twice about having Apple Intelligence enabled (or buy some more iCloud storage space, of course). And it's likely that Apple Intelligence will demand even more storage space as we go through 2025: it's expected that iOS 18.4 will bring with it a host of new AI updates, including smarter features for Siri.

Apple Intelligence now needs 7GB of your iPhone's storage -- frankly, I'd rather have the extra space

When Apple Intelligence first arrived on the scene for compatible iPhones, an Apple support document revealed that it would gobble up a not insignificant 4GB of storage for the extra functionality. Now, with the release of iOS 18.2, that has nearly doubled in just a few months. A support page on the Apple website, spotted by 9to5Mac, reveals that supported iPhones, iPads and Macs must sacrifice 7GB of storage for the extra functionality. To be entirely fair to Apple, this storage creep hasn't happened for no reason. The roll-out of iOS 18.2 brings a whole host of new features, including Genmoji, ChatGPT in Siri, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, Compose with ChatGPT and more. These are all features that should make compatible iPhones more competitive with Samsung's Galaxy AI-toting handsets. It's also not like Apple ever claimed that the 4GB demand would remain static. Indeed, the company specifically stated that "storage requirements for on-device Apple Intelligence models will increase as more features roll out" in the iOS 18.1 notes. All the same, such storage creep is a worrying trend for iPhone users who opted for 128GB handsets at launch. For them, Apple Intelligence has gone from taking up 3% of the phone's capacity to 5.5% in just a few months. For those wanting Apple Intelligence on their 64GB M1 iPad Air, the percentage rises to 11%. We've seen the expected timeline for iOS 18, and while iOS 18.3 doesn't appear to be adding much in the way of AI, the arrival of iOS 18.4 in the spring is set to add significant Siri changes which will likely make the storage demands soar even higher. The good news is that if Apple is serious about AI for the long haul, it will likely need to stop scrimping on storage space for its entry-level models. Apple Intelligence already forced the company into upping the RAM for its non-Pro handsets, and it seems likely that 256GB may become the norm sooner rather than later too. But what about those with 128GB handsets juggling with limited storage space today? A simple answer would be to allow users to remove AI features and continue using their iPhones as they have for the past decade. Not everyone needs or wants artificial intelligence at their fingertips 24 hours a day, after all -- and I must confess I'm an AI Luddite myself. I've only used generative AI a handful of times out of curiosity, and I've found it too prone to hallucinations to make it too unreliable for research. The photography editing features are astonishing in a technical sense, but it's also not for me. I cling to the old-fashioned view that stitching together multiple photos for a perfect snap, removing distracting objects, or dropping yourself in a scene at the tap of a screen merely ends up distorting genuine, happy memories into something cheap and inauthentic. Give me real and imperfect any day. In other words, if I had a compatible iPhone (I don't -- still on a 14 Pro here), I'd much rather have more free space to play with, than bloated AI features I don't use. But while you can disable Apple AI in the settings, at the time of writing, once you've installed it, there doesn't seem to be an easy way to reclaim all of the space it takes up. Hopefully that will change in time. Apple may honestly feel that AI is the future, but us non-believers should be free not only to ignore it, but to revel in the extra storage space that decision brings.

iOS 18.2 doubles storage needs for Apple Intelligence - and users aren't thrilled

In context: When Apple Intelligence launched last year with iOS 18.1, the company announced a 4GB storage requirement for its AI-powered features, including Visual Intelligence and Siri with ChatGPT integration. At the time, the requirement seemed reasonable, given that much of the processing occurs locally on the device to prioritize user privacy. Fast forward to last month's release of iOS 18.2, and the storage requirement for Apple Intelligence has jumped to a staggering 7GB of free space per device, according to Apple's website. That's nearly double the original requirement in just a few months. The likely reason? All the shiny new AI features packed into iOS 18.2. These include the Genmoji custom emoji creator, an AI image generator called Playground, the Visual Intelligence feature for identifying objects and places, and, of course, ChatGPT for text composition alongside a significantly smarter Siri. These features are undoubtedly useful for many, but the 7GB storage requirement is a significant hurdle - especially for users who want to enable Apple Intelligence across multiple devices like an iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Together, that adds up to a hefty 21GB of storage. The frustrating part is the lack of flexibility. Users can't pick and choose which AI features to enable, leaving them with limited options: upgrade to a higher storage tier when buying new hardware, pay for additional iCloud storage, or forgo Apple Intelligence altogether. Unfortunately, relief doesn't appear to be on the horizon. While iOS 18.3 doesn't introduce major new AI capabilities, Apple has announced bigger Siri upgrades for iOS 18.4 in April, which could push the storage requirements even higher. Apple defends its approach by emphasizing the advantages of on-device AI processing, including faster performance, improved responsiveness, and enhanced privacy protection compared to cloud-based models. However, these benefits come at the cost of consuming space that could otherwise store photos, videos, apps, or files. For those struggling with storage limitations, Apple does offer an opt-out. You can completely disable Apple Intelligence by navigating to Settings > Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence now requires almost double the iPhone storage it needed before - 9to5Mac

Apple Intelligence arrived on compatible iPhones, iPads, and Macs via a staggered rollout. There were new features launched in both iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2. Now, we know exactly how much those additional features are costing in terms of iPhone storage space. This made sense, because one of the privacy features of Apple Intelligence is that most of its features run on-device by default. And in order to do that, your device needs to download the AI models -- which eats into your storage space. We always knew that the 4GB requirement would increase over time, as more AI features debuted. The same 7GB number applies whether you're using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. But it also, since each product does its own on-device processing, adds up for multi-device use. If you want to use AI features across all three devices (which I'd assume most of us do), that's a grand total of 21GB of free space being used by Apple Intelligence. And unfortunately, if you're tight on storage, there's no way to reduce the requirement by disabling certain features. iOS 18.2 introduced big new AI features, including: Scanning this list, I understand why the storage requirement had to increase. But as more Apple Intelligence features continue arriving, on-device storage is going to become more in-demand than ever before. Looking ahead, Apple so far doesn't appear to be adding new AI features to iOS 18.3 -- but new betas could change that. In April's iOS 18.4 release though, some big Siri changes are coming. Siri upgrades will undoubtedly bump the 7GB requirement even higher. We could be looking at 10GB requirements per device in just the next few months, before any of iOS 19's new features debut. Big takeaway? It may be time to start upgrading the standard storage tier you opt for with your next iPhone, iPad, or Mac purchase. Are you concerned about Apple Intelligence storage requirements? Let us know in the comments.

Apple Intelligence already needs more iPhone storage space than it used to

Apple is slowly doling out more and more AI features to iPhone users, but it's coming at a price. In just the last few months, the internal storage requirements to install Apple Intelligence on a supported Apple device (be it an iPhone, iPad, or Mac) have nearly doubled from the initial investment. According to a notice on Apple's website (spotted by 9to5Mac), installing Apple Intelligence on your device now requires 7GB of storage space. For context, the initial rollout of Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 only carried a 4GB install size. Ever since the iOS 18.2 update added more features like Genmoji to the mix, the storage requirement has ballooned in size. As Apple keeps adding onto Apple Intelligence in the future, don't be surprised if the commitment continues to increase. The oldest iPhone that can run Apple Intelligence is the iPhone 15 Pro, which starts with 128GB of internal storage. It should also be noted that there's no way to install Apple Intelligence features piecemeal. You either get none of them or you get all of them. For many, this won't be an issue. Not everyone fills up their camera rolls or Apple Music download queues, so not everyone is bumping up against the storage limits on their devices all the time. But for those who like to live that life, Apple Intelligence may not be worth it.

Apple Intelligence Now Takes Up Nearly Twice as Much Storage as It Did at Launch

User adoption of Apple's AI is low, but it just keeps taking up more space. Apple Intelligence, a feature that is most notable for its extremely bad summarization of texts and notifications, is quietly occupying more and more of your unused storage space. As spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple Intelligence has gone from requiring 4GB of available storage at launch back in September 2024 to 7GB just four months laterâ€"nearly doubling the amount of space it takes up on a device. The jump in storage needs first appeared with the introduction of iOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2, which was first made available to the public in early December and expanded on the first set of Apple Intelligence features that debuted with iOS 18.1 and Sequoia 15.1. The December update introduced two generative AI features: Image Playground, which creates images based off user prompts, and Genmoji, which allows users to create their own custom emoji. Part of the reason these features require so much space is that Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing, so the models that power the features have to be stored on the device. It's also why only devices that are equipped with the company's own chipsets, either M1 or A17 or higher, get access to the featuresâ€"while other chipsets likely could handle the processing, Apple wants its AI functionality to run as smoothly as possible. While on-device processing offers some additional privacy (though, surprise, Apple is still scanning your photos and other content to train AI), it also means that every time a new Apple Intelligence feature gets rolled out, your storage space is likely to shrink. The company is planning to give Siri an AI overhaul soon, and Apple will likely continue to lean into AI for future operating system updates, so expect that it'll just keep filling up your available storage space for the foreseeable future. What makes the Apple Intelligence creep even worse is the fact that next to no one is actually all that enthused about using these features. Earlier this year, a survey conducted by SellCell found that 73% of iPhone owners who have tried Apple Intelligence said it adds "little to no value" to their phone experience. Perhaps that will change as Apple introduces new features that people actually want to engage with, but it'll be fascinating to see if the trade-offs prove worth it. Users have already started to complain about battery drain associated with Apple Intelligence operations. For now, it sure seems like Apple Intelligence's main capability is providing incorrect summaries of news articles, and all it costs you is an increasingly large chunk of your limited storage space and the need to charge your device more often. Not sure that's a great value proposition.

Apple Intelligence Will Occupy More Space on Your iPhone, iPad and Mac

It is compatible with the iPhone 16 series and iPhone 15 Pro models Apple has updated the storage requirements for Apple Intelligence -- its suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features. It will now require nearly double the storage space to run on Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad or Mac, compared to what was previously required. This is perhaps because several features part of the Apple Intelligence suite run locally on-device and related AI models need to be downloaded for them to function properly. Apple has updated its support page for Apple Intelligence, which now states that at least 7GB of storage space is required on the iPhone, iPad, or Mac for the AI suite. The Cupertino-based technology giant first published the requirements to run Apple Intelligence alongside the rollout of the AI features with the iOS 18.1 update. At the time, the iPhone maker stated that 4GB of space was required for Apple Intelligence to work. However, it only carried a handful of additions like writing tools and web page summarisation which were first previewed at the WWDC 2025 in June. Thus, it is speculated that the storage demands were in line with the initial release. iOS 18.2, which arrived in December, brought other major AI features such as Image Playground and ChatGPT integration in Siri. Further, future iOS 18 updates are expected to expand this feature set with additions like contextual understanding in Siri, which is why Apple might be updating the storage requirements to run the AI suite. Apple says its AI suite is compatible with the entire iPhone 16 lineup which comprises the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Further, two models from the iPhone 15 series -- the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max -- are also supported. In addition to smartphones, the iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later models, and the Mac with M1 and later devices are eligible to run Apple Intelligence following the latest iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates, respectively.

Apple Intelligence Now Requires You To Have 7GB Of Free Space, Regardless Of Which Device You Plan On Using The Company's Generative AI Features On

As the features set of Apple Intelligence continued to increase with successive updates, there was always a concern that the base storage requirement would also witness a bump. Sadly, we have to be the bearer of bad news because the company has now stated that you must have 7GB of free space on each Apple device. Previously, we reported that Apple Intelligence's storage requirements were limited to 4GB, but now, if you want to experience generative AI features, there is a possibility that you purposely skip the base version as your daily driver next time you want to make a purchase. The first Apple Intelligence features were previously scheduled to launch with iOS 18 but were delayed and made their way to iOS 18.1. At the time, Apple had published various requirements if you wanted to begin using Apple Intelligence, which was 4GB of free internal memory. While the amount was not 'over the top,' we always contemplated that if the company were to continue increasing the number of features, would it raise those storage requirements? According to the information spotted by 9to5Mac, our hunch was right. To run Apple Intelligence, you now need almost double the previous amount of storage on each device. The reasoning for upping that number is simple; Apple wants to maintain strict privacy measures for its users, which is why increasing the base storage requirement ensures that compatible devices can run these AI models on-device, and that requires some free space. In the new iOS 18.2 update, features such as Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT support, Image Wand, and others have been added. With the eventual release of iOS 18.3, which is scheduled to happen this week if we go by the previous iOS 17.3 update's launch, those storage requirements could go up once again, and if they do, our readers will be the first to get informed about this change, so stay tuned for more updates.