Apple Intelligence now needs 7GB of storage, up from 4GB – here’s why

Those of you who activate and run Apple Intelligence on your devices will now need a bit more space to handle the latest AI skills. In December, Apple updated its Apple Intelligence requirements page to reveal that 7 GB of storage is now required, as spotted by 9to5Mac. That’s up from the initial demand of 4GB of free space.

If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac with hundreds of gigabytes of storage, that requirement shouldn’t be too onerous. But if your device came with a small amount of real estate, say 128GB, and you’re already running low, then the Apple Intelligence requirement could pose a problem. Plus, you can’t selectively turn specific AI features on or off; it’s all or nothing.

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On the initial version of its Apple Intelligence requirements page, Apple did include a footnote explaining that “storage requirements for on-device Apple Intelligence models will increase as more features roll out.” So even that 4GB requirement was just a starting point.

Why the need for additional space at this point? Apple pretty much spelled it out.

The 4GB demand was in place in September before the company had even officially rolled out iOS 18.1, the first version of iOS with Apple Intelligence. The same held true for iPadOS and MacOS Sequoia. Those versions offered only a few AI-powered tidbits, including Writing Tools, a new visual look for Siri, notification summaries, and the ability to record and view summaries of your phone calls.

But now we’re up to iOS 18.2 (as well as iPadOS 18.2 and MacOS Sequoia 15.2). These latest updates include ChatGPT integration, the Image Playground, Image Wand, Genmoji, and Visual Intelligence, all of which naturally take up more storage space.

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So will 7GB be the ultimate amount required?

The Apple Intelligence requirements page no longer includes a footnote telling you that storage requirements will increase as more features roll out. However, more AI-based features are in the works for iOS 18.3 and especially 18.4, due out in March. So far, the rumored features focus on Siri with such enhancements as onscreen awareness and app integration. Unless Apple has already factored in the Siri upgrades, those features could easily require more storage.

How to free up storage 

What can you do if your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is low on storage?

You can simply turn off Apple Intelligence so it doesn’t chew up any space. But assuming you want to take advantage of the AI tech, Apple can help you free up storage. Head to Settings on your iPhone or iPad and System Settings on your Mac. Go to General and select Storage. Apple will offer a few suggestions for cleaning up your device, mostly notably by offloading features and data you may not need.