Remove Apple Intelligence Models from Mac with RemoveMacAI

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What RemoveMacAI actually changes

RemoveMacAI opens on a focused Apple Intelligence screen. You can turn off Siri, Writing Tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, the ChatGPT extension, notification and app summaries, inline predictions, Spatial Photos, Photos Clean Up, and Xcode predictive completion. You can remove everything or keep the features you still use.

The project also contains optional controls for analytics, ads, pop-ups, Finder, Dock behaviour, background items, old installers, development files, caches, local Time Machine snapshots, and other storage. Those controls are separate from the Apple Intelligence cleanup, so review them individually instead of applying a broad preset without reading it.

• Status shows each Apple Intelligence feature and the downloaded size of its models.
• The app previews proposed changes before applying them.
• A keep list lets you retain selected Apple Intelligence features and their required models.
• Undo history records prior values so the tool can restore settings later.
• The CLI supports status, dry runs, named changes, presets, cleanup, and complete reversal.

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Storage recovered varies by Mac, macOS version, language, enabled features, and which models have already downloaded. Check the reported size on your own Mac instead of expecting an exact number from someone else’s result.

Check before installing

RemoveMacAI compatibility and requirements

• RemoveMacAI requires Apple silicon. Open Apple menu → About This Mac to confirm the chip and macOS version.
• Finish any pending macOS update before enabling the model-download block.
• Keep a current backup before changing system-level preferences or profiles.
• Read the latest release notes because macOS updates can change undocumented system behaviour.

Simplest path

Install and review the RemoveMacAI app

The graphical app is the clearest option if you want to inspect features one by one. The project provides a one-line installer that downloads the latest release, verifies its published SHA-256 checksum, places the app in Applications, and opens it. You can instead download the ZIP from the latest GitHub release and move the app to Applications yourself.

RemoveMacAI is not currently notarized. On first launch, macOS may say it cannot verify the app. If you downloaded it from the official repository and want to continue, open System Settings → Privacy & Security and use Open Anyway. Do not bypass this warning for a copy obtained from a mirror or an unfamiliar link.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/omlahore/RemoveMacAI/main/install.sh | bash -s app

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A `curl | bash` command executes current remote code. The project publishes its installer for convenience, but reviewing the script or downloading the release manually gives you a clearer checkpoint before anything runs.

Terminal option

Install or run RemoveMacAI from Terminal

The one-line command runs the CLI from a temporary folder and installs nothing. Homebrew is more convenient if you want to run `status`, `off`, `on`, and `revert` repeatedly. The app and installed CLI share the same undo history.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/omlahore/RemoveMacAI/main/install.sh | bash

brew install omlahore/tap/removemacai

removemacai status

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Start with `removemacai status`. Confirm that the tool recognizes your macOS version and read the proposed changes before approving anything.

Review before applying

Choose which Apple Intelligence features to keep

Turning everything off can affect more than the features labelled Apple Intelligence in System Settings. Apps using Apple’s Foundation Models framework and the Use Model action in Shortcuts stop working, along with Visual Intelligence and natural-language editing in Calendar. Dictation remains available because it uses separate speech models.

• Keep Siri if you rely on the newer Spotlight appearance, clipboard history, conversions, or Foundation Models. The repository notes that keeping Siri also retains roughly 13 GB of foundation models.
• Keep Writing Tools if you use rewriting, proofreading, or text summaries in supported apps.
• Keep Photos Clean Up if you remove distractions from photos.
• Keep Xcode predictive completion if it is part of your development workflow.
• Test the features you care about immediately after applying changes, while the reversal steps are fresh.

removemacai off --keep siri

removemacai apply <tweak-name> --dry-run

Under the hood

How model removal and download blocking work

• Locked settings and model-download blocks are stored in a configuration profile that you review and approve in System Settings.
• The tool asks Apple’s asset service to release selected model sets instead of directly deleting files under `/System`.
• The profile points downloads for removed models at a closed local port so macOS does not fetch them again.
• Other preferences are changed through the same mechanism as `defaults write`, after their prior values are recorded in the undo journal.
• System Integrity Protection stays enabled and RemoveMacAI does not intentionally modify the sealed system volume.
• The project says it collects no data and makes no network request except when you choose to check GitHub for updates.

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This is a workaround built around current macOS behaviour, not an Apple-provided removal control. A future macOS update can change how the profile, asset service, or affected features behave.

After applying

Verify the models and storage were released

Run the status view again and compare the downloaded model sizes. Apple’s asset service releases models immediately, but macOS deletes their files on its own schedule. System Settings → General → Storage can continue showing Apple Intelligence for a while after the tool reports the models as released.

• Do not repeatedly rerun removal just because the Storage screen has not refreshed yet.
• Restart the Mac if a feature or storage label appears stale, then check status again.
• Remember that RemoveMacAI’s separate storage cleanup moves most selected files to the Trash; emptying the Trash is required to reclaim that space.
• Unavailable simulators and local Time Machine snapshots are exceptions: the documented cleanup uses `simctl` and `tmutil` to delete them directly.

removemacai status

Important maintenance step

Prevent RemoveMacAI from delaying a macOS update

The repository documents a macOS update problem: Software Update can finish downloading the operating-system update and then repeatedly try to fetch Apple Intelligence models blocked by the profile. It eventually gives up after roughly two hours of awake time, but sleep pauses that timer.

The quicker path is to allow Apple Intelligence downloads temporarily, restart so the old blocked request is cleared, install the macOS update, and then disable the features again. macOS may begin downloading models while the block is off; applying `off` afterward releases whatever arrived.

removemacai on
# Restart your Mac, then install the macOS update.

removemacai off

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Do not interrupt an operating-system update or force the Mac off while it is installing. If an update is already waiting on model downloads, follow the repository’s current issue guidance before taking further action.

Keep the exit path

Restore Apple Intelligence and uninstall RemoveMacAI

Use Undo Everything in the app or run `removemacai revert` before deleting the app or CLI. Revert removes the configuration profile and restores recorded preference values. macOS can then download required models again when you enable or use the matching features.

removemacai revert

brew uninstall removemacai

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/omlahore/RemoveMacAI/main/install.sh | bash -s revert

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Deleting the app alone is not the same as reverting. Restore the configuration first if you want Apple Intelligence and the previous settings back.

Common problems

RemoveMacAI troubleshooting checklist

• The app will not open: confirm it came from the official release, then use Open Anyway in System Settings → Privacy & Security. The project currently states that the app is not notarized.
• Storage still shows Apple Intelligence: wait for macOS to delete released assets on its own schedule, then restart and run status again.
• Spotlight changed or lost conversions: try keeping Siri, or undo the `spotlight-web` tweak if only web results and conversions are missing.
• A Siri process is still running: macOS 27 uses a Siri-named process for the Spotlight window, and System Integrity Protection keeps some services loaded.
• A macOS update appears stuck: use the documented `on` → restart → update → `off` sequence, or follow the latest pinned issue guidance.
• A feature you need stopped working: use `on`, reapply `off` with the appropriate keep option, or revert everything.
• The current release does not recognize your OS correctly: stop and check recent releases and issues instead of forcing the command.