Apple AI and the latest iOS release
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If you've installed iOS 18.3 and noticed that a big chunk of your iPhone storage went away, it's probably due to Apple Intelligence, which is now activated automatically on devices that support it. Apple's umbrella of AI features such as Image Playground, Genmoji and message summaries require as much as 7GB of storage. That's not great if your iPhone or iPad is already pressing against the top limits of its free space.
Even if storage is not an issue, you just may not be interested in Apple's still-beta set of AI features. According to a new survey by SellCell, 73% of Apple users think AI adds little to no value to the experience. In a separate survey, CNET found that 25% of smartphone owners aren't interested at all.
The good news is that you can turn off Apple Intelligence entirely. Or if you'd prefer to pick and choose, you can selectively disable some of the features. Doing so also lets you reclaim the storage it's using.