How to Turn Off Apple Intelligence on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Step-by-Step Guide

Apple's Apple Intelligence has been rolling out to compatible iPhones, but not everyone is thrilled about it. While it introduces features like AI-generated emojis, smarter notifications, and writing assistance, some users have found it automatically turned on after updates, even if they previously disabled it.

The latest iOS 18.3.2 update has once again re-enabled Apple Intelligence for some users without an option to bypass the setup screen. Here's how you can turn it off.

How to Turn Off Apple Intelligence Completely

To disable Apple Intelligence entirely, open the Settings app and scroll down to Apple Intelligence & Siri. Toggle off Apple Intelligence and confirm when prompted.

Disabling this feature will turn off AI-powered writing tools, notification summaries, AI-generated emojis like Genmoji, and ChatGPT integration with Siri. Users with an iPhone 16 series device will also lose Visual Intelligence features.

How to Disable Specific AI Features

If you find some Apple Intelligence tools useful but want to turn off others, go to the individual app settings.

To stop message summaries, go to Settings > Messages and disable Summarize Messages.

For AI-generated images, go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, then select Intelligence & Siri and turn off Image Creation.

You can also prevent AI from learning from specific apps by going to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri, selecting Learn from this App, and turning it off for the apps of your choice.

Why Some Users Are Disabling Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence offers features like Genmoji, notification summaries, and AI-assisted writing, but not everyone finds them necessary. Here are a few reasons why some users are opting out:

• Takes Up Storage: Apple Intelligence reserves around 7GB of storage space for local AI models, which could be a problem for those with limited device storage.

• Inconsistent Accuracy: AI-powered message summaries and image generation have produced mixed results, sometimes misinterpreting context or creating inaccurate outputs.

• Privacy Preferences: Although Apple claims most AI processing happens on-device, some users prefer to limit AI's role in their interactions.

Is Apple Intelligence Worth Keeping On?

Apple Intelligence is still a work in progress. While some users enjoy features like photo cleanup and notification summaries, others prefer to keep AI out of their everyday experience.

If you'd rather not use it, you may need to disable it after each update-at least until Apple provides a more permanent opt-out option.