If your iPhone suddenly has far less free space after updating to iOS 27, Apple Intelligence may be the reason. Users are reporting that around 15GB disappears, and turning the feature off does not bring it back.
The amount differs from phone to phone. Some people see about 16GB gone, others as little as 9GB. The report does not include a response from Apple.
Worse on 128GB iPhones
In a GSMArena report, some 128GB iPhone 16 units show roughly 30% of storage taken by iOS and the AI models, on top of the space iOS reserves for updates. The site also notes that people in the EU, where Apple Intelligence is not available, still lose a large chunk of storage.
Switching off Apple Intelligence or Siri does not release the space, according to the same report. Moving your Apple Account to another region is not advised, since that can mean cancelling subscriptions or running down your balance first.
The Siri language workaround
The fix comes from a Reddit thread. Apple Intelligence and Siri’s AI only work when the phone and Siri are both set to US or UK English, so picking a different English for Siri (Canadian, Irish, South African or New Zealand) keeps the models off the phone. The footprint drops to about 100MB, though not to nothing.
GSMArena tried South African English on its own iPhone and said the space returned after a reboot. Since the feature only works on US or UK English, you give it up while Siri stays on another variant.
The report adds that Apple has meanwhile been pushing iCloud storage ads harder. You can see what iOS is using under Settings, General, iPhone Storage.
