Mac users are starting to notice a new storage hog on their devices. After upgrading to macOS Sequoia, a user on r/mac reported opening the Storage pane and noticing Apple Intelligence quietly taking up many GBs of space. On machines with 256 GB SSDs, that footprint feels heavy, so people now ask a simple question: can you delete Apple Intelligence from your Mac to reclaim storage?
Here is the short answer. You cannot fully uninstall Apple Intelligence like a normal app. Apple builds it into macOS as part of the operating system. Apple’s own support documentation says Apple Intelligence needs around 7 GB of on-device storage, and in some cases it uses even more.
How much space Apple Intelligence really uses
When you open System Settings > General > Storage and click the info button next to macOS, you see a breakdown that now includes Apple Intelligence. That panel shows how much space the models and related assets occupy on your internal drive.
In many cases, the number sits close to Apple’s 7 GB estimate. On some Macs, though, users report figures closer to 10 GB or more, depending on which features you enabled and whether the models downloaded fully.
Even if you turn Apple Intelligence off in System Settings, the system does not always remove those downloaded models. Some people say the storage shrank after disabling the feature, while others say the download stayed in place. That inconsistency creates more confusion and drives users to look for manual workarounds.
Why you cannot safely uninstall Apple Intelligence
Apple treats Apple Intelligence as a core part of macOS Sequoia. In community support threads, Apple experts explain that you do not own or control system components at that level and cannot selectively remove them. You can switch features off, but you cannot rip out the frameworks and expect a stable system.
If you try to erase system folders by hand, you risk breaking macOS in ways that a simple reinstall might not fix. You may spend more time recovering your data than the extra few gigabytes were ever worth.
Are Terminal commands and recovery tricks worth it
Some community posts now share Terminal commands that target Apple Intelligence model folders from Recovery mode. These scripts use rm -rf on paths inside /System/Library/AssetsV2, which can remove the downloaded model assets. One typo in a command like that can wipe critical system files and leave your Mac unable to boot. Apple does not document or support this method, and you accept all risk if you try it.
Other suggestions, such as changing Siri’s language or doing a full factory reset, either work inconsistently or come with clear costs. A reset may clear Apple Intelligence data, but you then need to restore everything from backup and set up your apps again. That is a big step only to reclaim around 7 to 10 GB.
For most people, the safest approach is simple. Turn Apple Intelligence off if you do not want to use it, then free up space by removing old apps, large downloads, and local media instead of trying to delete system AI files.
“For most people, the safest approach is simple. […] free up space by removing old apps, large downloads, and local media instead of trying to delete system AI files”
i’ve seen this in another Apple-centric site. this is not useful information at all. we’re not searching: “how to delete removable files in our macs”. we already know how to do that…lol. we are trying to reduce disk usage BY APPLE INTELLIGENCE (in my case, 17.4 GB), which is not documented
if we have large downloads, as i do, it’s because we INTENTIONALLY downloaded those files and want to retain them. i actually do also have some local models (some for coding, some general) from Hugging Face or wherever, and i selected them and can remove them as well. we just want that option with Apple Intelligence as well. it may very well be the on-device option that works well, but it should be an option
deleting files we WANT AND NEED, to accomodate a feature (or files/models) we’ve NEVER WANTED OR NEEDED is not the “approach” or solution we’re searching for
no wonder guys like DHH and Geohotz (among others) are leaving the ecosystem and doing so loudly. my first Mac will be my last Mac if this lack of paying attention to the needs of users is the norm