Tell HN: iOS 27 does not allow Apple Intelligence to be disabled

nunez · 2026-09-14T21:21:58.000Z

I'm surprised that this didn't get more attention during the Beta period.iOS 26 had a toggle you could select to disable all Apple Intelligence features.That toggle was removed for iOS 27. Every AI feature has to be turned off individually: https://archive.ph/AE72IThere is a way of turning it off through Content Restrictions in Screen Time, but one Redditor reported that doing this disables CarPlay for some reason.This is pretty disappointing.

rgovostes 4 days ago |

There is no actual feature called "Apple Intelligence", it's a marketing term for a handful of disparate features that they are applying everywhere.

Is the excellent OCR that lets me select text within an image Apple Intelligence? It uses local models. Or the prediction engine that optimizes battery life by backgrounding apps you're less likely to use, or applies updates while you're sleeping? What about the Latent Semantic Mapping text classification framework, which uses language models for fuzzy document search -- and has been around since 2007?

It wouldn't have made sense in the past to add a master kill switch for all these features, and it doesn't really make sense now to have one for the latest iteration.

dormento 3 days ago | |

> There is no actual feature called "Apple Intelligence", it's a marketing term for a handful of disparate features that they are applying everywhere.

Just like "Microsoft Copilot" and "IBM Watson".

iAMkenough 4 days ago | |

Yes, but at the end of the day they took away a toggle that allowed you to remove the latent models you don’t use and reclaim space you need.

With Apple Intelligence disabled and ~8GB reclaimed, you could still OCR, still use Siri, still separate subject from background, translate text, so on and such.

Now it’s all or nothing, shoving LLM weights into 128GB of storage for some people.

There’s a better approach.

layer8 4 days ago | | |

CNET says that the OS auto-reclaims the space when needed: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/how-to-turn-...

dormento 3 days ago | | |

> ...the OS auto-reclaims the space when needed

I remember when your personal computer did exactly the things you asked.

Now, it seems you have to trust on a third party so the computer does the things you "probably wanted".

I must be getting old.

iAMkenough 4 days ago | | |

That’s actually more frustrating, since it qualifies with “that now-inactive space” after disabling Siri.

To me that means if you go with the “nothing” route and disable Siri, the local latent models aren’t removed from storage until your device fills up, with the hope you enable Siri again.

Akin to all of Microsoft's apps with disparate Windows features pre-installed and unable to be removed from your device except through Storage Sense.

dzhiurgis 4 days ago | |

If it uses local models, why I need to join waitlist?

mingus88 4 days ago | | |

That’s for Siri AI and other features which use private cloud compute

_boffin_ 4 days ago | |

i really thought "Apple Intelligence" is the addition of data into Knowledge.db, but i guess not.

nunez 3 days ago |

Okay, I have an update.

It turns out that you CAN disable MOST of the Apple Intelligence features without compromising HomePod features or CarPlay by either:

A) Downloading and installing the profile I just created that does everything that follows below here (https://github.com/carlosonunez/bash-dotfiles/blob/main/ios-...), or

B) Doing these things:

1) Going to Settings > Siri and changing the "Language" to something other than "English (United States)." (I changed mine to "English (Canada).") This automatically disables Siri AI and restores Siri Classic. You'll need to go through voice training again though.

2) Going to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri and setting "Siri" to "Siri Classic."

3) Going to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri and setting all Apple Intelligence features (Writing/Math Assistance, Image Creation, Extensions) to "Blocked" or "Don't Allow"

4) Going to Settings > Messages and setting "Summarize Messages" to OFF

5) Going to Settings > Mail and setting "Summarize Messages" to OFF. (This might disappear after following step [3])

Steps 1 and 2 delete the Apple Intelligence models from your phone, giving you about 30GB of space back.

(Courtesy goes to this Reddit post: https://old.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1wh7i10/ios_27_how_to_...)

Jackknife9 4 days ago |

If you go to settings and disable Siri AI and Siri and then re-enable it you get the option "Try Siri AI" and "Use Siri Classic". This disabled most AI features from what I can see. The only one it didn't was notification prority.

neilalexander 4 days ago |

There is a “Turn off Siri” option. Apple Intelligence & Siri are now effectively one.

metaltyphoon 4 days ago | |

Didn’t matter, the space on disk still not reclaimed. On my macbook air it’s 35GB

brudgers 4 days ago | | |

The headline was “iOS”

metaltyphoon 4 days ago | | |

Applies to both sadly.

al_borland 4 days ago | | |

My iPhone 16 Pro shows Apple Intelligence using 6.62GB, not 35GB.

metaltyphoon 4 days ago | | |

My iPhone 15 pro is showing 15GB

nunez 4 days ago | |

This also turns off CarPlay and disables Voice Recognition for HomePods.

skeledrew 4 days ago |

So interesting. Before, it was great rejoicing, smugness and whatever other related expressions when headlines were saying "Apple is sitting out AI". Now, there's evidence that it isn't the case, and there's... mostly silence, and some mild disappointment. Everywhere else there is outrage and strong feeling expressed about how Y company is slipping AI into everything, but not when it comes to the fruit company. Of course they can do no wrong; it's always the user who's at fault and needs to adopt the correct(ed) path. Funny people.

kingkongjaffa 4 days ago | |

It's just following changing sentiment.

At the time of the adverts, only a few % of tech workers were using LLMs for daily use, that number has skyrocketed and so has the appetite and acceptance that this technology is here to stay and be embraced as a serious tool for work.

It was not at all clear (to me as a relative 'normie' and not an AI researcher) prior to about GPT4 / Sonnet 3 that they would be more than a research lab toy.

skeledrew 3 days ago | | |

I don't get the feeling that the outrage has decreased. Actually I'd say it's increasing as more fields are "threatened" by the incursion.

MotoriX 3 days ago |

Removing a single master switch and making users disable everything one by one sounds like a pretty pointless change. What was wrong with just letting people turn it all off?

dormento 3 days ago | |

A frog must be boiled slowly.

pm_confidant 4 days ago |

I belive they are investing on Apple Intelligence a lot more, I have myself built a series of apps on top

https://yourconfidant.ai/

ChristmasTomer 4 days ago |

Yeah, this kinda sucks.

I don’t really care what Apple calls it. If there was one switch before, why remove it?

If this stuff takes up a few gigs, just let people turn it all off. Easy.

hnburnsy 4 days ago |

Just like notifications in iOS that cannot be disabled globally.

aristofun 4 days ago |

That really is a bummer, especially on basic older models where 8-20Gb of space wasted on this gimmick even if turned off is not nothing.

singularity2001 4 days ago |

Lucky you, I cannot enable it (EU).