RemoveMacAI strips Apple Intelligence from macOS 27 with one command

In macOS 27 Apple removed the single toggle for Apple Intelligence: individual features can be switched off one by one, but the models tied to them stay on disk anyway. The open-source RemoveMacAI sets out to solve both problems — turn the features off, delete the models, and keep the system from downloading them again. Every change is said to be fully reversible.

What it does

The tool disables Siri (including "Hey Siri" and the menu bar icon), Writing Tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, the ChatGPT extension, summaries in Mail, Messages, Safari, Notes and notifications, Mail smart replies, inline text predictions, Spatial Photos, Photos Clean Up and Xcode predictive code completion. Along with the features it removes the models themselves — the Apple Intelligence foundation models plus the sets for image generation and Genmoji.

How it works

At its core is a configuration profile that applies Apple's own restriction keys; whatever lacks a key is forced directly. Models are released through Apple's own asset service — System Integrity Protection stays enabled and nothing under /System is touched. To stop macOS from pulling the models back, the profile redirects each download to a closed local port. Removing the profile restores the previous settings.

The author stresses privacy: RemoveMacAI makes no network requests and collects no data. The installer downloads a release, verifies its SHA-256 checksum and runs it from a temporary directory, installing nothing; each release is built from its tag via GitHub Actions and carries a build provenance attestation. Homebrew installation is available too.

Caveats

Dictation keeps working — its speech models are not removed. macOS updates do not undo the changes. Storage settings keep counting Apple Intelligence for a while: the asset service releases the models immediately, but macOS deletes the files on its own schedule. Apple silicon is required, and only macOS 27 is supported. The project builds on pared by 4evy, which first mapped the asset service and the settings keys.

Source: Hacker News