Image: Apple via The Verge
Why it mattersDevelopers who build on Macs can reclaim the 12 GB the author reports and turn off the Siri, Writing Tools and ChatGPT extension surfaces that macOS 27 no longer hides behind a single switch.
Apple removed the single switch for Apple Intelligence in macOS 27, and left its models on disk after the features were turned off. A new open-source command-line tool called RemoveMacAI puts the switch back and deletes the models in one command.
RemoveMacAI was published to GitHub on 29 September 2026 by a developer who goes by omlahore, and had reached 1,359 stars by 5 October. It is MIT-licensed, built in Swift, and runs only on Apple silicon. The Verge covered it on 5 October, pointing to a Reddit post by the author.
The features and models it removes
The tool turns off every Apple Intelligence surface in one pass: Siri (including "Hey Siri" and the menu bar icon), Writing Tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, the ChatGPT extension, summaries in Mail, Messages, Safari, Notes and notifications, Mail smart replies, inline text predictions, Spatial Photos, Photos Clean Up and Xcode predictive code completion.
It then removes the on-disk models through Apple's asset service: the foundation models used by Writing Tools and summaries, the image generation and Genmoji models, and the models behind Spatial Photos, Photos Clean Up and Xcode code completion. The author's Reddit post, quoted by The Verge, said the foundation models alone take about 12 GB.
How RemoveMacAI applies the change
The README says RemoveMacAI installs a configuration profile with Apple's restriction keys for Apple Intelligence, and forces the settings that have no restriction key. The profile also redirects the download of each removed model to a closed local port, so macOS does not download the file again. System Integrity Protection stays enabled, and no files under /System are modified. The author says the tool makes no network requests and collects no data.
Every change is reversible with removemacai revert, which removes the profile and lets macOS download the models when a feature needs them. Dictation and its speech models are left in place, because dictation is a separate setting in macOS.
Why one command replaces a dozen settings
Apple used to show a single toggle in System Settings for turning Apple Intelligence off. macOS 27 split those controls across a dozen panes, several of them under Screen Time, and left the models downloaded after every feature was switched off. The Reddit post, quoted by The Verge, said: "You have to find about a dozen settings, and several of them are under Screen Time. Even when everything is off, the foundation models stay on disk, and that's about 12 GB."
Storage settings also keeps counting the models under Apple Intelligence until macOS deletes them on its own schedule. The README states that the asset service releases the models right away, and the files are reclaimed later by the system.
For a developer who uses their Mac to write and compile code, that is one command, 12 GB of disk space back by the author's count, and no more Writing Tools, summaries, Genmoji or ChatGPT extension prompts inside the apps they use every day. Apps that call Apple's on-device models through the Foundation Models framework or the Use Model action in Shortcuts stop working, which the README states directly.
Source
- Repository (primary): omlahore/RemoveMacAI
- Coverage: The Verge, 5 October 2026
This item was written by an AI system from the linked source. Reveneau is responsible for what it publishes.
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