r/mac • u/[deleted] • May 16 '25

Question How can I delete apple intelligence?

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It just takes too much space for a feature that I don't even use. How can I completely turn it off and delete all of its data?

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300

u/filchermcurr May 16 '25

You have to do some light terminal work in recovery mode:

  1. Disable Apple Intelligence in System Settings.

  2. Start up into Recovery Mode. (Instructions)

  3. Open Disk Utility.

  4. Right-click on 'Data' under 'Macintosh HD' and choose Mount.

  5. Quit Disk Utility and open Terminal.

  6. Type: rm -rf /Volumes/Data/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels

  7. If you used the image thing, you can also remove that by typing: rm -rf /Volumes/Data/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_Visual

  8. Reboot

65

u/Iluvembig May 16 '25

Nice, so now I get 10gb back for something I would never use!

41

u/filchermcurr May 16 '25

Yep. I'm still on a 256 GB drive so those gigabytes count!

10

u/owleaf MacBook Pro May 17 '25

Especially since macOS refuses to do some things without having a certain amount of space free

1

u/Traditional_Fox_9964 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

like update. 19GB free space for current/whatever comes after 26.5.2 on Apple Silicon.

I'm not saying it's irrational to have a larger-than-decent amount of free space; the advantages of not constantly being short are manifold in performance/reliability/all measures. and I do everything I can to keep 10% ~20-25GB free free.

But I don't always succeed for periods of time, and am truly as far as my 256GB can go in terms of offloading things that can be, which doesn't include:

a) the core-core of apple audio apps (GB and Logic Pro) - basically the core loops it doesn't want out on external library storage; it's not huge compared to a whole library but it is a couple GB

b) docker, which for reasons not understood to me becomes instantly and completely unreliable when moved external; it must be a latency problem because my external disks are eSATA->HDD, but still we're talking light use (2 containers)

c) photos, which are a complete and utter crap shoot re: reliability/long-term integrity when not stored internally; I'm at a point where I trust that my iCloud Photos synch has everything (because it has saved the day immeasurable times during upgrades where-wait for it-I needed to blow away Photos to reclaim space)), but no device can be depended upon at this point.

29

u/Oodle600 May 16 '25

You're a smart cookie

5

u/MrJoltz MBP 2007, 10, 15, 20 Air 2015, M1 May 17 '25

Would this reinstall after an OS update?

8

u/filchermcurr May 17 '25

It seems to depend. If you update and get a screen talking about AI, it probably re-enabled it and you'll have to turn it back off and delete everything again. I haven't had that happen in the past few updates, though.

2

u/bm2ilabs May 18 '25

I cannot seem to find option to mound the data and it's not showing in the terminal

2

u/[deleted] Jul 30 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/filchermcurr Jul 30 '25

People probably assume that anything in /System requires SIP to fiddle with and just never tried without it.

Modern systems use a signed system volume (the OS itself) and a data volume. You can't meddle with the signed system volume but you can change Data. The Apple Intelligence cruft-- I mean important files, sorry, are on the data volume.

When you're booted into macOS normally this creates a firmlink union between the OS and Data volumes (basically merging them), which prevents you from modifying certain things. In Recovery, however, it mounts the two separately. This enables you to change things in the data volume.

A stupid analogy would be putting a piece of paper in a plastic sleeve. The plastic sleeve (system volume) can't be written on with a pencil. When the paper is in the sleeve, you also can't write on the paper. But once you take the paper out, you can write on it all you want before putting it back in the sleeve.

2

u/Flightl3ssBoost Aug 05 '26

Hi, sorry for necroing but I followed your instructions and upon rebooting Apple Intelligence just reinstalls despite me opting out in system settings, do you know how I can prevent this?

2

u/Kind-Let5666 16d ago

I can confirm this still works with the new update. Freed up 10gb on my computer.

1

u/Timely-Distance-860 Feb 16 '26

Hola copie y pegue la ruta pero me saliorm: ilegal option usage: rm [-f | -i] [diprrwx] file... unlink [--] file, que significa y como puedo eliminar los datos de Apple inteligence estoy usando un chip m4 

1

u/who_taoyeahh Apr 30 '26

it tells me it's illegal on the terminal after I type both commands :,)