If you’ve recently purchased one of the latest iPhone models and noticed a lack of Apple Intelligence, there’s good news. Apple has addressed this issue without the need for an iOS update.
Apple Intelligence remains an opt-in feature in iOS 26. Since the AI language models (LLMs) powering Apple Intelligence are large, they are not preinstalled on new iPhones. Users can enable Apple Intelligence by downloading the LLMs from Apple’s servers either during setup or through the iPhone Settings app. This approach prevents unnecessary space consumption for users who do not require Apple’s AI features.
Although this year’s iPhone models did not come preinstalled with the LLMs, some users of iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air experienced difficulties downloading the required files, even after multiple attempts to enable Apple Intelligence.
Not all new iPhones were affected by this issue, making it puzzling and frustrating for those unable to access Apple Intelligence. The inability to utilize Apple Intelligence on their new iPhones was disappointing, especially considering Apple’s emphasis on it as a key iPhone feature.
Following the release of iOS 26.0.1, the problem persisted, leading users to anticipate the iOS 26.1 update at the end of October for a resolution.
Fortunately, it seems the issue was not device-related. As the LLMs are downloaded directly from Apple’s servers, Apple likely rectified the issue remotely by adjusting availability or authentication parameters for the model downloads.
The resolution was highlighted by MacRumors after contributor Aaron Perris confirmed successful AI model downloads.
Apple has just rolled out a server-sided fix for iPhone 17 models that couldn’t download Apple Intelligence models. pic.twitter.com/QlpdhBmN0l— Aaron (@aaronp613) October 7, 2025
How to Resolve Apple Intelligence Model Download Issues on iPhone
No specific actions are required on the iPhone’s end to implement this fix. However, toggling Apple Intelligence off and back on may be necessary if it is stuck in a certain state:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Select Apple Intelligence & Siri.
- If Apple Intelligence is off, toggle it on. If the setting is already enabled with no error messages, the AI models likely downloaded automatically after the fix. If an error message appears, turn off Apple Intelligence, wait a moment, then turn it back on.
In some cases, restarting your iPhone before re-enabling Apple Intelligence may be necessary.
It’s important to note that the Apple Intelligence models require time to download. Since they are several gigabytes in size, it’s best to perform this process over a fast Wi-Fi connection. While Wi-Fi is recommended but not technically required by Apple, reports suggest that the models may not download correctly over cellular data, even with a fast 5G connection. The download time can vary from several minutes to over an hour based on internet speed, so be patient when enabling Apple Intelligence.
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