How to turn off Apple Intelligence on iPhone, iPad, and Mac in iOS 27

The Morse teamPublished November 3, 20268 min read

As of November 3, 2026, there is no single switch to turn off Apple Intelligence on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS 27 Golden Gate. Apple's own guide has you turn off each piece on its own: Siri AI (turn off Siri, or go back to Siri Classic), the ChatGPT extension, the summaries in Messages, Mail, and notifications, and a few smaller features, with Screen Time to block the rest. On iOS 26 and earlier, one switch still does it all, under Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri.

We read Apple's iPhone, iPad, and Mac user guides for both versions, its Apple Intelligence privacy notices dated September 14, 2026, its "How to get Apple Intelligence" page (updated October 22, 2026), and its security release list, all on November 3, 2026. The paths below are Apple's, word for word. Apple deserves credit for the paperwork. It says, feature by feature, what runs on the device and what goes to its servers, and it gives you a report of every request that left.

Is there still one switch to turn off Apple Intelligence?

No, not on iOS 27. Apple's iOS 26 guide ends with a section called "Turn off Apple Intelligence": go to Settings, tap Apple Intelligence & Siri, then tap the button next to Apple Intelligence (Apple, iOS 26). The iOS 27 version of the same page has no such section (Apple, iOS 27). Its replacement, "Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features," is a table of separate settings, from Siri AI to the writing prompts in Journal, and the menu most of them live under is now called Siri (Apple).

Most guides that rank for this search still give the old one-step path, including some written as late as July 2026 (Proton, July 20, 2026). They were right when they were written. Apple released iOS 27 on September 14, 2026, and iOS 27.2 on October 26 (Apple security releases). If your iPhone is still on iOS 26 (Apple shipped iOS 26.7.2 the same day), the master switch is still there.

Every Apple Intelligence setting on iOS 27, and what it stops

Read November 3, 2026. The iPhone and iPad paths start in the Settings app, the Mac paths in System Settings unless an app is named.

Apple doesn't say for most rows whether the feature runs on the device or on Private Cloud Compute. It gives two examples in its privacy notice: Priority Notifications runs on the device, and Image Playground sends your description to Private Cloud Compute for a server model to draw (Apple). The report described below shows which of your requests left.

How do you turn off Siri AI, or go back to Siri Classic?

On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap Siri, scroll down, and tap Turn Off Siri, then tap it again to confirm (Apple). To keep a voice assistant without the AI, follow the same steps, tap Turn on Siri, and choose Siri Classic. On a Mac, open System Settings, click Siri in the sidebar, click Turn Off Siri, then Turn On Siri and Use Siri Classic (Apple).

Turning Siri off also deletes the transcripts of your Siri and Dictation requests stored on your device, Apple says (Apple).

The Siri app's own conversation history, how to delete it, and the Keep Conversations setting are covered in does Siri record your conversations. If you'd rather keep Siri but fence off some apps, Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps removes an app from Siri, Search, and suggestions (Apple).

How do you turn off ChatGPT in Apple Intelligence?

The path depends on which Siri you use (Apple):

1. Open Settings and tap Siri.
2. With Siri AI, tap Extensions, tap ChatGPT, and turn off Use Extension.
3. With Siri Classic, tap ChatGPT and turn off Use ChatGPT. To stop Siri offering ChatGPT at all, also turn off Setup Prompts, an option Apple says Siri AI doesn't have.

On a Mac it's the same, starting from System Settings > Siri (Apple). Screen Time can block the extension too.

What a ChatGPT request carries, and what OpenAI may keep when you're signed in or out, is in is Apple Intelligence private.

How do you block Apple Intelligence features with Screen Time?

Screen Time is the closest thing iOS 27 has to the old master switch, though it works by capability. On an iPhone, open Settings, tap Screen Time, tap Content & Privacy Restrictions, then tap Siri (Apple). From there you can:

• tap Don't Allow Siri to block Siri,
• tap Siri (Classic Version) to allow Siri without AI,
• or set each Siri AI capability, such as Image Creation, Sensitive Topics, or Explicit Language, to Allow or Block.

On a Mac, the same list sits under System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri, with capabilities like Broad World Knowledge, Writing Assistance, Math Assistance, and Image Creation (Apple).

The menu changed between versions. On iOS 26, the same controls were under Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Intelligence & Siri, with separate entries for Writing Tools, Image Creation, and Intelligence Extensions (Apple, iOS 26).

Does turning off Apple Intelligence free up storage?

Apple's iOS 27 pages don't describe a way to remove the models. Apple Intelligence needs up to 14 GB on iPhone Duo, the iPhone 17 Pro models and later, and iPhone Air, and on Macs with M3 or later and at least 12 GB of memory; up to 8 GB on other supported iPhones, iPads, and Macs; and up to 1.5 GB on an Apple Watch (Apple, October 22, 2026). The same page says storage "may temporarily exceed" those figures during a software update, while new models download and old ones are removed.

How do you check what Apple Intelligence sent off your device?

To see which requests left your device, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Intelligence Report on an iPhone (or System Settings > Privacy & Security on a Mac), choose the last 15 minutes or the last 7 days, and tap Export Activity (Apple). What Private Cloud Compute does with those requests is in is Apple Intelligence private, and the opt-in that lets Apple keep Siri requests for training is in does Siri record your conversations.

How to ask AI questions that don't land in your Apple Account

Whichever switches you leave on, what you ask those features can still end up with Apple or OpenAI. The Siri app syncs your conversations through your Apple Account, the ChatGPT extension hands requests to OpenAI under OpenAI's rules once you sign in, and an opt-in program can keep two years of what you said. Morse is a web app at trymorse.ai, with over 30 models, open and closed, in one account, and it's built so its servers don't keep your chats.

• Anonymous, to use GPT without signing in to OpenAI. GPT, Claude, and Gemini go through our proxy, which removes your account, email, and IP address and sends the message under Morse's own account. The provider sees the message without knowing it's you, and may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy. Leave names and details you'd rather keep out of the message.
• Private, for the questions you'd once have asked Siri. It's the mode a new chat starts in. Open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM answer under the zero data retention agreements Morse has with its inference, search, and other providers, and where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it and refuses a reply that doesn't.
• E2EE, for anything no one should read. Your browser checks the secure enclave's attestation before anything leaves your device, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it. Our servers relay text they can't read. It rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed, and it comes with Pro, at $19 a month.

In every mode, your chat history is stored only in your browser, encrypted, and locked when you sign out. There's no improvement program to opt out of, because Morse doesn't train AI on your chats, sell your data, or show ads (Morse privacy policy). Because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities. Clearing your browser deletes your chats for good, and Morse can't recover them, so keep a copy of anything you need. For how the big assistants compare, see are AI chats private.

Which Apple Intelligence settings should you turn off?

• ChatGPT: turn off Use Extension if you don't use it, or stay signed out of ChatGPT. On Morse, Anonymous mode gives you GPT without an OpenAI account.
• Siri AI conversations: set Keep Conversations to 30 days, or switch to Siri Classic. On Morse, history lives only in your browser.
• Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence: leave it off. Morse has no such program to join.
• Summaries you don't read: turn them off app by app, using the table above.
• Everything at once: use Screen Time on iOS 27, or the Apple Intelligence & Siri switch if you're still on iOS 26.

You can try a chat from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with no card, and move to Pro when you want E2EE.