Juli Clover:
When installing macOS Sequoia 15.3, iOS 18.3, or iPadOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be turned on automatically on compatible devices[…] With macOS Sequoia 15.1, macOS Sequoia 15.2, iOS 18.1, and iOS 18.2, Apple Intelligence was opt-in rather than opt-out, and users who wanted the feature needed to turn it on in the Settings app. Going forward, it will be enabled by default, and Mac, iPhone, and iPad users who do not want to use the feature will need to turn it off.
Ryan Jones:
Oh my word.
Apple is going to auto enable AI summaries one random morning on your dad and grandma.
☠️🔥
Ryan Christoffel:
Per Apple’s website, Apple Intelligence now requires 7GB of free storage.
The same 7GB number applies whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Rosyna Keller:
And since it uses the MobileAsset framework to deliver the models, they’ll get purged when the space is actually needed if Apple Intelligence is switched off.
Sean Heber:
I can’t seem to turn it off right now, either, because now it’s downloading, I guess?
Nick Heer:
The exact amount probably varies from device to device but, still, that is a considerable amount of new space required — a thirty-odd percent growth in operating system size in a nominally minor version update.
[…]
Apple still insists this is a beta, but it no longer has the excuse that users are opting in knowing the risks and flaws. These are just unfinished new features. It turns out problems and a lack of quality control magically become excusable if you just slap a beta badge on it. This is a trick Google has known about for decades.
Andrew Cunningham:
Apple is following in the footsteps of Microsoft and Google here, rolling out new generative AI features to its user base as quickly as possible and enabling some or all of them by default while still labeling everything as a “beta” and pointing to that label when things go wrong.
Eric Schwarz:
I think based on the desperate attempts to get us to use it, most people aren’t that excited about it.
Eric Schwarz:
I think it’s funny how Apple holds back features from older devices with artificial software reasons or have hardware that they’ll include but not enable with the excuse “it wasn’t promised when we shipped it” (kinda like the paid original iPod touch software updates). Unlike that, everyone with a capable device is getting Apple Intelligence thrown upon us when it’s not even done. How about you go get the nonsense worked out with Masimo so I can get the blood oxygen sensor working on my Watch?!
John Gruber:
I have mixed feelings about this decision. It’s pretty obvious that Apple Intelligence has a slew of shortcomings. It’s the nature of the beast, though, that it’s always going to have some shortcomings.
[…]
So the bar shouldn’t be “has obvious shortcomings”. It’s whether Apple Intelligence is good enough. Compared to other systems, like ChatGPT, no, it’s not good enough. But Apple has been enabling Siri by default since 2011. And Siri, today, is arguably worse than it’s ever been when compared to the state of the art.
[…]
If it’s not just merely shipping to all users, but now enabled by default, that’s not beta. That’s just buggy.
Adam Engst:
Ultimately, I’m neither surprised nor all that perturbed by Apple turning on Apple Intelligence for everyone.
[…]
Like so many other features Apple adds to its apps and operating systems, most Apple Intelligence features won’t get in your way, and those that might—like notification summaries—can be turned off independently.
Previously:
Update (2025-02-07): Jamie Zawinski:
I have now turned off “Apple Intelligence” three times on my iPad, and can now confirm that there’s also an “Apple Intelligence Report” keylogger that I had to turn off as well.
But, to be fair, I did not tell them “NO”. I told them “Maybe Later”. So they’re just following my instructions, right? That’s how consent works, right?
Apple (Reddit):
You can generate a report of requests your iPhone has sent to Private Cloud Compute.
I guess this is intended as a pro-privacy feature so that you can audit what information your Mac is sending to Apple—since their server is not going to store it in a way that’s associated with you—but the side effect is that it keeps a local log of your queries that anyone with access to your Mac could export.
Update (2025-02-12): Thomas Tempelmann:
Here’s a trick how to prevent Apple Intelligence to get automatically activated by a system update on your Mac:
Set Siri’s language to a different English variant (e.g. UK vs. US) and then it’ll not be able to get enabled.
Apple Intelligence iOS iOS 18 Mac macOS 15 Sequoia Privacy Private Cloud Compute
Juli Clover (release notes, security, enterprise, developer, full installer, IPSW):
macOS Sequoia brings Genmoji to Macs that support Apple Intelligence, which means it’s now possible to create custom emoji characters using the Messages app.
The update also removes Notification summaries for news and entertainment apps to prevent misleading Apple Intelligence headline summaries.
See also: Mr. Macintosh and Howard Oakley.
Dave Nanian:
It includes a fix for the replicator failure in 15.2. Once installed, SuperDuper “Erase, then copy” backups should start working again.
Previously:
Update (2025-01-28): Howard Oakley:
Bugs fixed include improved stability for apps over VPN connections when using the built-in software firewall and content filter extensions, and successful AirPlay connections with the firewall and content filters.
Ethan J. A. Schoonover:
Applying the most recent macOS 15.3 security patch reset the hostname on my system (definitely should not happen). Spotlight index also nuked and failing to rebuild (mdutil is not indexing).
Scott Anguish:
Releases notes show that .onKeyPress now works inside of NavigationSplitView.
Jeff Johnson:
Apple, in its eagerness to please the stock market by forcing the so-called “beta” of Apple Intelligence on customers, offers no way to dismiss the advertisement in System Settings without opening the Image Playground app.
[…]
You can use the same workaround in the future whenever you see a message at the top of System Settings that you want to remove.
Update (2025-01-29): Ric Ford:
Apple’s recurring home directory bug is back yet again with macOS 15.3, as Jeffrey Kane notes in an email.
Fat Cat Software:
Apple has now released macOS 15.3 which fixes the problems PowerPhotos experienced on 15.2, and restores its previous capabilities with non system libraries.
Brian Webster:
macOS 15.2 broke all my shit, and I’ve spent the last three months fixing things to work again.
macOS 15.3 undid the shit breaking, so everything works like it did before.
So yay, it’s not broken anymore?
But I just wasted like three months of my life with this shit?
And who knows if it’ll break again in 15.4 or whatever?
Rich Trouton:
Apple has added a couple of new management options for Apple Intelligence as part of the release of macOS Sequoia 15.3.
Pierre Igot:
Also still not working in macOS 15.3: Preview cannot cope with grayscale TIFFs with a depth of 16.
Update (2025-01-30): Christian:
Is it just me, or did switching windows with command ^ stop working in Safari with 15.3?
The Command-` Cycle Through Windows shortcut works for both of us with a US keyboard layout, but he says Command-^ doesn’t work with any of the German keyboard layouts.
Rodrigo Ghedin:
It’s broken since ever Safari Profiles were released, if you have more than one set. Weirdly, Command + Shift + ` (switching backwards) works fine.
Update (2025-01-31): Pierre Igot:
Of course, after updating from macOS 15.2 to macOS 15.3, I find that Apple has unilaterally reset my Downloads folder in Safari to the default one (the Downloads folder inside my home folder), even though I have been using a different one for YEARS.
Update (2025-02-07): Patrick Wardle:
If you write security tools for macOS, you have to get used to Apple breaking things all the time …and you (+your users) then having no recourse but to patiently wait for their fix 🫠
(Example: Apple broke Airplay Mirroring in macOS 15.2 😬 …but at least it’s fixed in 15.3)
Tim Hardwick:
Apple’s latest macOS Sequoia 15.3 update appears to have resolved a bug that prevented popular backup utility SuperDuper from creating bootable backups, according to developer Dave Nanian.
Norbert Heger:
Starting with macOS 15.3, this automatic removal of embedded system extensions no longer works. Although the system still claims to remove them, they remain installed and active, so they continue to run in the background without users even noticing.
Note that this affects not only Little Snitch but also all third-party Mac apps that include a system extension, such as VPN and network filtering apps, endpoint security tools, and hardware drivers.
Howard Oakley:
There have been many reports of problems with Thunderbolt 5 support in Apple’s latest MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 Pro and Max chips. Among the more concerning have been poor performance when accessing SSDs through TB5 docks and hubs, and the inability to drive more than two 4K displays through those.
[…]
As the evidence here suggests, macOS 15.3 or later is required for full TB5 performance, and OWC now includes that in the specifications for its TB5 hub. It also states that TB3 support requires macOS 15, although USB4 should still be supported in macOS 14 Sonoma.
Pierre Igot:
I installed the macOS 15.3 update last week and…
This here record clearly shows that I turned this option OFF a month ago… and therefore that the macOS 15.3 update arbitrarily turned it back on without my consent.
I suppose that, by Apple’s calculation, it’s OK to regularly annoy a subset of users just in case the great masses of clueless Mac users might be somehow helped by these so-called “tips”.
Update (2025-02-10): Peter Steinberger:
Bought a new Thunderbolt 5 controller and now macOS is crapping out on T8110DART overnights.
Norbert Heger:
Now, five years later, after upgrading our machines to macOS 15.3, we have once again noticed that ICMP traffic no longer reaches our network extension, so we cannot show it in Network Monitor nor can we intercept and block it.
[…]
We very much hope that ICMP support was not intentionally removed by Apple, but that this is merely “just another bug” that will be fixed in a future macOS update.
Of course, we have already reported our findings to Apple (FB16450831).
Jeff Johnson:
Every “minor” OS update nowadays is like a major OS update: new bugs every time.
I personally noticed two other new bugs in macOS 15.3: tiff rendering broken (FB16418368) and Safari 18.3 broke iOS web inspector over wifi (FB16423111).
When do we ever get a “stable” version?
AirPlay Apple Intelligence Calculator Genmoji Little Snitch Mac macOS 15 Sequoia macOS Release Network Extensions Notification Center PowerPhotos Preview.app SuperDuper System Preferences Thunderbolt
Juli Clover (no iOS/iPadOS release notes, security, no enterprise, no developer):
For iPhone 16 models, iOS 18.3 adds Visual Intelligence support for adding events to the Calendar app and identifying plants and animals. The update removes Apple Intelligence Notification summaries for news and entertainment apps in an effort to prevent misleading alerts, plus it italicizes all summaries done by Apple Intelligence.
There are also several bug fixes, and a change to the Calculator app.
See also: Joe Rossignol.
Previously:
Update (2025-01-28): Ed:
Plus, good news @mjtsai : they fixed scheduling of Home actions (“turn off lamp in 10 minutes”) which have been broken since at least 18.1
Update (2025-01-30): Tim Hardwick:
Below, we’ve listed 50 of the features and changes that have been rolled out through these recent updates.
Apple Intelligence HomeKit iOS iOS 18 iOS Release iPadOS iPadOS 18 iPadOS Release Notification Center
