Apple Intelligence Will Require 4GB of Storage on Eligible iPhones

Next month, Apple will make the first set of Apple Intelligence features available on select iPhones, iPads, and Macs. While Apple’s AI features won’t be revolutionary, the company has been using the privacy angle and touted that Apple Intelligence will prioritize on-device processing. over larger server-based models powered by its Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.

Because the local models used by Apple Intelligence will require powerful neural processing units (NPUs) and a minimum of 8GB of RAM, the company’s personal intelligence system will only be available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, all iPhone 16 models, and iPad and Mac models with Apple Silicon chips. In a support page spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple also indicated that “iPhone devices need 4GB of storage.”

As of this writing, the company didn’t specify any storage requirements for iPads and Macs, but it wouldn’t be surprising if supported models will need a similar amount of storage to enable Apple Intelligence features. However, Apple did add in a footnote that “storage requirements for on-device Apple Intelligence models will increase as more features roll out.”

We already know that Apple is planning to roll out new Apple Intelligence features gradually. When iOS 18.1 will launch in October, it will lack the ChatGPT integration and Image Playground app that Apple first announced at WWDC in June. These features will need to wait for iOS 18.2, which is expected to be released in December. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will continue to roll out new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.3 and iOS 18.4, which may be released in January and March, respectively.

If you’re worried about Apple Intelligence claiming valuable storage on your iPhone, the personal intelligence system will be an optional feature. To get access to it, users with supported Apple devices will need to join the Apple Intelligence waitlist, and on-device Apple Intelligence models will only begin to download after activation. At launch, Apple Intelligence will be available in most regions around the world except for the EU and China, with Siri and device language set to U.S. English. Additional English-language support will come in December, with more languages coming over the course of the next year.