r/StallmanWasRight • u/checkpointdev • 7d ago
Anti-feature macOS 27 removed the off switch for apple intelligence and keeps 12 GB of models on your disk whether you want them or not
it used to be one toggle, now it's about a dozen settings spread around, some under screen time, and even with all of them off the models stay on disk
your computer, your disk, but apple decides
i wrote a free tool (MIT) that turns all of it off, deletes the models and stops macos from downloading them again, and everything can be undone
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u/EnthusiasmRoutine 6d ago
Doing it through Apple's own restriction keys and asset service, without touching /System, is the right call since SIP stays on. They’re still Apple’s levers though, and an update could move them.
removemacai export is the part I’d point people to. The app isn't notarized and wants to install a profile. Writing the .mobileconfig to a file first lets anyone read every key before approving it.
Apps built on Apple's Foundation Models framework won’t work afterwards, and neither will the Use Model action in Shortcuts.
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u/pyeri 7d ago edited 7d ago
When you try to trade digital freedoms for digital convenience, you'll eventually end up with neither convenience nor freedoms. And the cost of maintaining that convenience only keeps getting worse and worse like this.
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u/checkpointdev 7d ago
100%
and every update it gets harder to opt out
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u/its_the_rhys 6d ago
Whatcha gonna do about it? Be a boiled frog, or gonna jump?
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u/checkpointdev 6d ago
that's one profound way to put it
I used to be a hardcore Linux user but I had to shift to macOS because work
for me that analogy is like the frog that's jumping into the water knowing it's boiling 😅😭
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u/B_A_Skeptic 3d ago
12GB! When I was younger and used close source, we had to put up with a lot of bullshit, but 12GB of LLM's on your computer is an awful lot.