Apple Intelligence features could potentially create a storage space issue for iPhone and iPad owners due to the large amounts of data that need to be downloaded to the devices.
Apple Intelligence features are deliberately designed to run on the user’s device so their requests aren’t handled in the cloud and thus potentially accessible by third-parties.
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However, with that comes safety and privacy feature comes a trade off. It means a lot of files need to be downloaded to the device itself and stored there.
For the first batch of Apple Intelligence features that arrived in iOS 18.1 in the United States, there was a 4GB free space requirement.
For the roll out of additional features in iOS 18.2 at the end of 2024, the required free storage space need had risen to 7GB, according to Apple’s own website (via 9to5Mac). That did include some pretty significant enhancements like Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence and Compose with ChatGPT.
However, there are still much more powerful features – like a totally revamped conversational Siri assistant – to come, so it’s possible those storage demands could get out of hand.
The lowest storage configuration for the iPhone 16 is 128GB and it seems plenty of that could soon be allocated to the opt-in Apple Intelligence features.
As these features get better and more advanced they may take up even more space, with iPhone users forced to make difficult choices over what they opt into, and what else they store on their devices in terms of apps, downloads, games and photos.
