Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac

k310

This applies to MacOS 26. On iOS 27, it looks like changing the settings for eight different apps taking 5 or 6 steps each. https://archive.ph/AE72I#selection-712.0-731.53 Original: https://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-turn-off-apple-intelligenc...

iAMkenough

Note that storage space taken up by local models is not reclaimed and remains dormant on your Mac until you're nearly out of space.

bflesch

Funny how Apple has reached the crapware maturity level that Microsoft users are quite familiar with: After first boot, go through a long list of things to deactivate so that one can experience at least some feeling of agency and privacy when using your own hardware.

strictnein

The thing that's weird about Apple's "Intelligence" features is how dumb they are. I messaged one of my kids yesterday that the pizza I made was ready and that I was out in the backyard with our dogs. Genmoji (or whatever it's called) then decided to suggest that I make a new Emoji with pizzas in a yard. It's great that they're on device and all, but how incredibly stupid.

parable

Is it possible to block Apple Intelligence from sending data over the Internet via Little Snitch? I would assume it is, but I'm not sure if anything significant has changed in macOS 27 that makes this impossible now. I don't really mind the local features - I'd rather they stay disabled, but it's not the end of the world - but I really don't want any data leaving my Mac.

JumpCrisscross

Why did they nerf the keyboard interface to Siri? Before, it was ⌘⌘ and you could type out something for Siri to fuck up. Now, we have to turn off “Hey Siri” and then click on the Siri app or meander our way through Spotlight. I talk to my phone. I type to my laptop.

pdpi

Clearly, nobody at Apple is thinking globally about this stuff. If you have kids, "Screen Time" is a reasonable enough name for the place where parental controls live. If you work under the assumption that AI features are OK in general, but potentially problematic around kids in particular, parental controls are a reasonable enough place to put these AI controls. If you're not a parent, and have broader concerns about AI, you'd never even think of looking for these options where they are.

Mindwipe

It's really frustrating that there is no ability to reclaim the drive space in MacOS 27, especially on Macbooks with M1 or M2 chips that can barely use the models. Another great sign of how the OS is deeply on fire IMO.

reaperducer

Missing from Apple's list is the feature that suggest filenames. At first, it was very cool and did a good job with plain text files, and even a PDF. Then it munged the names of several hundred files I was working with that was each named with a street address. Finder → Settings → Suggest file names

VCFundedGenYer

I want the disk space taken from the models back. I will never touch this garbage and would rather use the disk space I purchased to be used for my purposes, not the industry's pointless fad bubble endeavors.

zzyzxd

I would never have figured out the toggle for writing tools is in `Settings -> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> Siri -> Writing Assistance`

todfox

The Write with Siri button that shows up whenever I select text is so obnoxious that I want to trash this fucking machine after 30+ years on the platform.

variety8675

Hopefully someone will make a script or small app to disable all of this in one click

wartywhoa23

Apple, we want one global killswitch and a way to free disk space occupied by unused models.

Lio

It's great that you can turn all this off but why is it tucked away in Screen Time of all places? What's the thinking behind that?

MadrasThorn

Every time I turn on my M5 I have to manually turn apple intelligence off. Clearly a poor buy on my part

ivan888

How about removing the Siri button from the menu bar? This doesn’t seem possible anymore (it reappears some time after dragging it out)

chewbacha

Oh wow, I need to customize every app to disable learning from that app? Next phone is not gonna be an iPhone.

bityard

I don't know this for sure, but I would also guess that simply not singing into your iCloud account on the Mac is easier and would work just as well. (I have a Macbook that I use for various things. Other than lack of access to the Apple Store, I don't feel like I'm missing anything from not having an iCloud account.)

mococa

I know macOS is a private OS, but what is inside the binary blob? Why my mail client think some emails are important but not are.