Apple Intelligence features are planned to be rolled out to compatible iPhone models starting in the US with the iOS 18.1 update, which may be rolled out sometime next month. Ahead of the release, the Cupertino-based tech giant has revealed how much storage space these features will require. The details were shared in the latest iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 5 update. In particular, the storage requirement is quite high, and some users may need to free up space before downloading and installing updates.
How much storage space is required to run Apple Intelligence?
In the support document for the recently released iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 5 update, Apple has detailed the amount of on-device storage required to access the new artificial intelligence (AI) features introduced earlier this year. In the section titled “Supported Devices,” the company said, “Apple Intelligence is available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, all iPhone 16 models, and M1 and later iPad and Mac models. iPhone devices require 4GB of storage *.”
The thing to note here is that this 4GB of storage space will be required in addition to the space to install the iOS 18.1 update. This means that the next stable version of the operating system will be a major update for all users. While this shouldn’t impact users who have a compatible iPhone model with higher storage, iPhone owners who purchased the base 128GB variant may run out of storage.
Since there is still some time for the company to release the update, users should try to free up some space on their devices. This can be done by using iCloud storage or an external hard drive to store large videos, photos, and other files. Notably, the support document only mentions iPhone devices, not other devices that will also get Apple Intelligence.
Additionally, the company also highlighted that adding more features in the future will increase the need for on-device storage for Apple Intelligence. Users will have to adjust to this as well. In the future, this could make the 128GB variants of iPhone models unpopular, and the company could pave Samsung’s way and introduce the lineup straight away with 256GB storage and above.
