Be careful when upgrading to macOS 27: Apple Intelligence actually takes up far more storage space than the official label

Be careful when upgrading macOS 27, Apple Intelligence will eat up a lot of storage space. (Photo/Reuters)

The Mac obviously doesn't have any large software installed, but the storage space suddenly loses a lot? The problem may be with Apple Intelligence. Apple will automatically download the device-side AI model in macOS 27. Although the official label indicates that some Macs use up to 14GB of storage space, some users have actually discovered that Apple Intelligence has consumed more than 30GB of storage space, and even if the AI ​​function is not used normally, the model download cannot be prevented.

Apple says it can be up to 14GB, which is significantly exceeded in actual testing.

Apple officials pointed out that Apple Intelligence will use different storage spaces based on Mac hardware specifications. Macs equipped with M3 or newer chips and with at least 12GB of unified memory can use up to 14GB of storage space; other Macs that support Apple Intelligence are officially labeled as up to 8GB.

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However, actual occupancy appears to be higher than the official figures. Foreign media MacRumors discovered on a Mac mini equipped with an M4 Pro chip and upgraded to macOS 27 that Apple Intelligence actually occupied 20.67GB of storage space, significantly exceeding the official label of 14GB; some netizens even reported on the Internet that their Macs were occupied by Apple Intelligence by more than 30GB.

A reporter from the Free 3C Technology Channel actually tested an M3 MacBook Air. After updating to macOS 27, Apple Intelligence also occupied 27.52GB of storage space.

According to actual measurements by reporters from the Free 3C Technology Channel, Apple Intelligence takes up 27.52GB of storage space. (Photo/Photo by reporter Wu Peihua)

I can’t turn it off even if I want to. It still takes up space without using AI.

What’s more noteworthy is that Apple has removed the option to turn off Apple Intelligence in macOS 27. In other words, even if the user does not use Apple Intelligence normally, the relevant AI model will still be automatically downloaded to the Mac and will still occupy storage space.

For Macs with only 256GB or 512GB SSD, if Apple Intelligence eats up 20GB or even more than 30GB in one go, the impact will be felt, especially for users whose hard drive is originally full of photos, videos or large applications. After the upgrade, the available space may become even tighter. Therefore, users who have not yet upgraded to macOS 27 may wish to check the remaining storage space first and clean up unnecessary files before updating if necessary, or postpone the upgrade first.

If you want to know how much space your Mac has been eaten up by Apple Intelligence, you can go to "System Settings" → "General" → "Storage Space", and then click the information button next to "macOS" to check.

According to foreign media tests, this kind of situation where Apple Intelligence takes up significantly more storage space than the official label mainly occurs on Mac; the same obvious phenomenon has not yet been seen on iPhones and iPads running iOS 27 and iPadOS 27.

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