Users have found a way to disable the loading of AI models in macOS

Users of macOS 27 have discovered a method to forcibly stop the automatic download of local AI models used for Apple Intelligence features, allowing for the release of a significant amount of disk space that the system reserves for model weights and supporting assets.

To implement the workaround, it is necessary to put the device into Recovery Mode and use terminal commands to delete files from the Foundation Models directory, after first disabling Siri or activating Low Data Mode to prevent the reinitialization of the download process when next connected to the network.

Technically, the macOS 27 system downloads weight packages for local processing of requests by default, which takes up several gigabytes to tens of gigabytes depending on the configuration, and deleting these files through the command line allows the system to function normally, ignoring attempts to download components related to generative functions.

This method is unofficial and requires administrator privileges in the recovery environment, and is relevant for users who do not plan to use the built-in AI tools and aim to minimize the system's background activity related to updating local models.