In context: When Apple Intelligence launched last year with iOS 18.1, the company announced a 4GB storage requirement for its AI-powered features, including Visual Intelligence and Siri with ChatGPT integration. At the time, the requirement seemed reasonable, given that much of the processing occurs locally on the device to prioritize user privacy.
Fast forward to last month's release of iOS 18.2, and the storage requirement for Apple Intelligence has jumped to a staggering 7GB of free space per device, according to Apple's website. That's nearly double the original requirement in just a few months.
The likely reason? All the shiny new AI features packed into iOS 18.2. These include the Genmoji custom emoji creator, an AI image generator called Playground, the Visual Intelligence feature for identifying objects and places, and, of course, ChatGPT for text composition alongside a significantly smarter Siri.
These features are undoubtedly useful for many, but the 7GB storage requirement is a significant hurdle – especially for users who want to enable Apple Intelligence across multiple devices like an iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Together, that adds up to a hefty 21GB of storage.
The frustrating part is the lack of flexibility. Users can't pick and choose which AI features to enable, leaving them with limited options: upgrade to a higher storage tier when buying new hardware, pay for additional iCloud storage, or forgo Apple Intelligence altogether.
Unfortunately, relief doesn't appear to be on the horizon. While iOS 18.3 doesn't introduce major new AI capabilities, Apple has announced bigger Siri upgrades for iOS 18.4 in April, which could push the storage requirements even higher.
Apple defends its approach by emphasizing the advantages of on-device AI processing, including faster performance, improved responsiveness, and enhanced privacy protection compared to cloud-based models. However, these benefits come at the cost of consuming space that could otherwise store photos, videos, apps, or files.
For those struggling with storage limitations, Apple does offer an opt-out. You can completely disable Apple Intelligence by navigating to Settings > Apple Intelligence.
iOS 18.2 doubles storage needs for Apple Intelligence - and users aren't thrilled
