Apple Intelligence now needs 7GB of your iPhone’s storage — frankly, I’d rather have the extra space

Apple Intelligence logo on iPhone
(Image credit: Future)

When Apple Intelligence first arrived on the scene for compatible iPhones, an Apple support document revealed that it would gobble up a not insignificant 4GB of storage for the extra functionality.

Now, with the release of iOS 18.2, that has nearly doubled in just a few months. A support page on the Apple website, spotted by 9to5Mac, reveals that supported iPhones, iPads and Macs must sacrifice 7GB of storage for the extra functionality.

To be entirely fair to Apple, this storage creep hasn’t happened for no reason. The roll-out of iOS 18.2 brings a whole host of new features, including Genmoji, ChatGPT in Siri, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, Compose with ChatGPT and more. These are all features that should make compatible iPhones more competitive with Samsung’s Galaxy AI-toting handsets.

It’s also not like Apple ever claimed that the 4GB demand would remain static. Indeed, the company specifically stated that “storage requirements for on-device Apple Intelligence models will increase as more features roll out” in the iOS 18.1 notes.

All the same, such storage creep is a worrying trend for iPhone users who opted for 128GB handsets at launch. For them, Apple Intelligence has gone from taking up 3% of the phone’s capacity to 5.5% in just a few months. For those wanting Apple Intelligence on their 64GB M1 iPad Air, the percentage rises to 11%.

We’ve seen the expected timeline for iOS 18, and while iOS 18.3 doesn’t appear to be adding much in the way of AI, the arrival of iOS 18.4 in the spring is set to add significant Siri changes which will likely make the storage demands soar even higher.

I’d rather have the extra space

Apple Intelligence logo made to look like puzzle on iPhone

(Image credit: Tom's Guide / Shutterstock)

The good news is that if Apple is serious about AI for the long haul, it will likely need to stop scrimping on storage space for its entry-level models. Apple Intelligence already forced the company into upping the RAM for its non-Pro handsets, and it seems likely that 256GB may become the norm sooner rather than later too.

But what about those with 128GB handsets juggling with limited storage space today? A simple answer would be to allow users to remove AI features and continue using their iPhones as they have for the past decade.

Not everyone needs or wants artificial intelligence at their fingertips 24 hours a day, after all — and I must confess I’m an AI Luddite myself. I’ve only used generative AI a handful of times out of curiosity, and I’ve found it too prone to hallucinations to make it too unreliable for research.

The photography editing features are astonishing in a technical sense, but it’s also not for me. I cling to the old-fashioned view that stitching together multiple photos for a perfect snap, removing distracting objects, or dropping yourself in a scene at the tap of a screen merely ends up distorting genuine, happy memories into something cheap and inauthentic. Give me real and imperfect any day.

In other words, if I had a compatible iPhone (I don’t — still on a 14 Pro here), I’d much rather have more free space to play with, than bloated AI features I don’t use. But while you can disable Apple AI in the settings, at the time of writing, once you’ve installed it, there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to reclaim all of the space it takes up.

Hopefully that will change in time. Apple may honestly feel that AI is the future, but us non-believers should be free not only to ignore it, but to revel in the extra storage space that decision brings.

TOPICS
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.

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  • bluecar1
    everytime I have interacted with AI systems I have come away frustrated and disappointed, even google are failing royally with AI, summaries are wrong, search results less accurate leading to a poorer experience

    apple is no different with high profile issues like the news summary attributed to the BBC about the gunman in the Health CEO case shooting himself, and many more

    the worst interaction with AI assistants for me was 30 minutes and 5 calls trying to get past an "AI Assistant" trying to sort out my car insurance, each call it put me in the wrong queue despite me clearly telling it what I was calling for

    every time you see something is AI assistant or search enabled, there is a tag line / disclaimer for you to "check the results for accuracy"until they are confident enough not to put that on its not ready to be released (google pixel adverts on telly are prime example)

    when I upgraded to iPhone 16 a few months ago I went through the setting and made sure Apple intelligence was disabled (just waiting for apple to do a Microsoft and quietly enable it in an update!!

    I have turned of the location sharing Apple quietly enabled on the photos in IOS 18 with the "enhanced visual search" feature, swiftly disabled once I was aware of it

    bottom line if anything is advertised as "powered by AI" or "AI Enhanced" it will not get bought by me
    Reply
  • squew
    It's the models, they are big files... But you can have more storage for a fee no?
    Reply