Since its introduction in iOS 18.1, Apple Intelligence has been an optional feature. Users had to decide whether to enable it, with Apple even going so far as to put people on a waiting list before they could use it.
With iOS 18.3 and macOS 15.3, Apple's AI features become a standard, default part of the experience for all compatible iPhones (iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone 16), iPad, and Mac (all Macs equipped processors M1 or later). According to the developer documentation, Apple Intelligence will be enabled by default:
For users new to or upgrading to iOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be enabled automatically during iPhone onboarding. Users will have access to Apple Intelligence features after setting up their devices. To turn off Apple Intelligence, users will need to go to the Apple Intelligence & Siri Settings pane and turn off the Apple Intelligence toggle. This will disable Apple Intelligence features on their device.
Obviously, this will only be true in regions and languages for which Apple Intelligence is available. This makes sense; These are distinctive features of these devices and, unlike some Siri requests and responses, Apple Intelligence features are either handled entirely on the device or through Private Cloud Compute where everything is encrypted and never saved.
Still, Apple Intelligence is clearly labeled as “beta” and it seems premature to disable beta features rather than enable them. To turn off Apple Intelligence, open Settings, select Apple Intelligence and Siriand flip the toggle switch to turn it off.
