The problem is there is no single switch to turn it off. You have to go to each nook and cranny in the settings and toggle a switch. And if you miss anything, that 20 something gigabytes of space doesn’t free up. I’m all for local AI features, but it should be a one toggle switch to turn it off or remove it.

The reddit user featured in the article had to create a script to automate it and keep it off.

But not curious enough to read the second sentence of this article.

Disk space it seems.

You can't turn it off anymore in Golden Gate. It is a mandatory download (in countries where it is supported) now.

You can still disable some specific AI-related features, but you can't block the models entirely.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, that's a ton of disk space, and Apple is notoriously chintzy when it comes to storage. On the other hand, I do want the default to be local-only models, and giving developers easy access will make that the path of least resistance. Most of my problems with LLMs don't apply to moderately-sized local models.