Apple Intelligence Is Now Enabled by Default, but You Can Turn It Off
Apple Intelligence has had a slow rollout, launching with a waitlist and only recently providing access to AI images and an emoji generator . But now it looks like Apple is finally ready to follow the lead of Microsoft and Google and start putting its AI features at the forefront.
According to the release notes for iOS 18.3 release candidate, the final beta version of the latest iPhone update ahead of its launch (likely in a few days), Apple Intelligence will move from an opt-in feature to an opt-in feature. one. In other words, if you have an AI-enabled iPhone (i.e. iPhone 15 Pro and later), Apple Intelligence will be enabled by default.
Here’s Apple explaining it in the company’s own words:
For new users or users who updated to iOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be enabled automatically when the iPhone is connected. Users will have access to Apple Intelligence features after setting up their devices. To turn off Apple Intelligence, users need to go to the Apple Intelligence and Siri settings panel and turn off the Apple Intelligence switch. This will disable Apple Intelligence features on their device.
It’s a major last-minute change to what has been a pretty boring update so far—though unlike Google’s plan to eventually replace Google Assistant with Gemini , at least Apple is still giving you the option to opt out. This comes in line with Apple’s other big change in the patch, which sees the company rolling back some features related to AI-generated Apple Intelligence notification summaries .
Apple Intelligence isn’t without its benefits, although for me the biggest difference I’ve noticed since turning it on is that the Siri UI looks a little different. It still has more features, including the ability for Siri to automatically pull context from your phone screen and your messages, so it’s likely to get better, but it’s understandable if you’d rather wait for now.
How to opt out of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.3
To make sure Apple Intelligence is disabled after iOS 18.3 is released, keep an eye on your phone. If a purple frame appears around your phone’s screen when you call Siri, it means you’ve enabled AI.
To opt out of Apple Intelligence and return to the standard experience without AI, go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and turn off the Apple Intelligence switch at the top of the page.