Apple Intelligence has arrived on compatible iPhones, iPads, and Macs through a staggered rollout, introducing new features in both iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2. However, these advancements come at a cost in terms of device storage. When Apple Intelligence first debuted with iOS 18.1, it required 4GB of free storage space. This requirement was a direct result of Apple’s privacy-first approach, where most AI features run on-device, necessitating the download of AI models.
While this initial storage demand was manageable, the release of iOS 18.2 has pushed the requirement up to 7GB, nearly doubling in just a few months.
Apple’s support page now specifies that the 7GB requirement applies universally to iPhones, iPads, and Macs. For users with multiple Apple devices, this adds up quickly—21GB of free space across an iPhone, iPad, and Mac if Apple Intelligence is activated on all three. This increase is attributed to the introduction of features like Genmoji, ChatGPT in Siri, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, and Compose with ChatGPT in iOS 18.2, all of which enhance the on-device AI experience. While these features significantly improve functionality, they also highlight a growing concern for users with limited storage.
For those with 128GB devices, the storage demand has risen from 3% to 5.5% of the total capacity, and for users with 64GB devices like the M1 iPad Air, the percentage is even higher. Apple has previously acknowledged that storage requirements for Apple Intelligence would increase as new features roll out. This trend appears set to continue, with iOS 18.4 expected to bring significant Siri upgrades that may push the requirement even higher, potentially reaching 10GB per device.
The implications of this storage creep are clear. Users with devices at the lower end of the storage spectrum may find themselves increasingly constrained, especially since there is currently no option to reduce the storage footprint by disabling specific AI features. While Apple allows users to deactivate Apple Intelligence, the space taken up by the AI models cannot yet be reclaimed without uninstalling the feature entirely.
This raises the question of how Apple will address the growing storage demands of its AI advancements. The company has already increased the RAM in its non-Pro iPhones to accommodate Apple Intelligence, and it seems likely that base storage tiers will need to rise as well. A shift to 256GB as the standard storage option could be on the horizon.
Until then, users juggling limited storage space may need to reconsider their device choices or upgrade to higher storage tiers to fully leverage Apple Intelligence.
