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News · 2026-10-10

Mac users turn to RemoveMacAI to reclaim storage from Apple Intelligence

@neuronium_ai @neuronium_ai

Apple users have found an unofficial way to remove Apple Intelligence from their Macs. The open-source tool RemoveMacAI disables several AI features and blocks them from downloading again, while potentially freeing up substantial storage. Its popularity points to a gap between Apple’s built-in AI ambitions and what some Mac owners want from their computers: features they do not use, and disk space they would rather keep.

Cover: Mac users turn to RemoveMacAI to reclaim storage from Apple Intelligence

What RemoveMacAI removes

The project, spotted by MacRumors, disables Siri, Writing Tools, Genmoji, Image Playground and the ChatGPT extension. Its developer described the tool in a post on Reddit’s r/MacOS, which drew more than a thousand votes. RemoveMacAI also prevents Apple Intelligence features from downloading again.

The storage claim is significant for owners of entry-level MacBooks, which come with 256 GB of storage. The tool can free up about 12 GB, while some users say Apple Intelligence takes up as much as 35 GB on their machines.

About 12 GBtool estimate
35 GBsome users' reports

The repository has nearly 2,000 stars on GitHub and dozens of forks. That is a visible audience for a tool designed to remove software Apple built into its own computers.

A feature set without a clear audience

Some of the functions are easy to dismiss as novelties. Genmoji, for instance, lets users make custom emoji with AI, but online discussions often turn to whether anyone actually uses it. Even people who like AI features can acknowledge that Apple’s versions do not always prove useful in practice.

I think the more telling signal is not that some users dislike Genmoji. It is that they want a way to reclaim storage and keep the features from returning. That makes RemoveMacAI less a verdict on AI in general than a complaint about software that users cannot easily opt out of.

Reddit users praised the project while regretting that it was needed at all. One compared cleaning unwanted components out of macOS to doing the same in Windows. The tension for Apple is clear: adding AI is a product choice, but making room for it on a user’s disk is one users may not want made for them.

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