Apple Intelligence on Mac changed a lot with macOS 27 Golden Gate. Siri became a proper AI assistant with its own app, it can write and review text in any text box, and it can see what is on your screen. Photos, Safari, Shortcuts and Image Playground all gained new AI tools too.
macOS 27.2, released on 26 October 2026, added Siri memory of past chats and five new Siri languages.
This guide covers every Apple Intelligence feature on the Mac, which Macs support each one, how to turn it on, how to use the best tools step by step, the limits, and what to do when a feature is missing.
- Supported Macs: any Mac with an M1 chip or newer. macOS 27 doesn’t run on Intel Macs.
- Turn it on: update to macOS 27.2, then go to System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri.
- Big features: Siri AI (chat, personal context, app actions, Siri app), Write with Siri, Visual Intelligence from a screenshot, Image Playground, Describe a shortcut, and new Photos editing tools.
- Storage: up to 8 GB, or up to 14 GB on M3 and newer Macs with 12 GB+ memory.
- Cost: free, but cloud-powered features have daily limits.
All Apple Intelligence Features on Mac
This list is from Apple’s macOS 27 page and its Apple Intelligence support article.
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Siri AI (beta) | Chats, brainstorms, answers almost any question with web sources, and remembers past chats (27.2) |
| Personal context | Finds things in your photos, emails, notes and messages when you ask |
| Actions in apps | Does tasks in apps like Messages, Music and Reminders |
| Siri app | Keeps your Siri chats, syncs them between iPhone and Mac, and lets you pin them |
| Write with Siri | Drafts text or gives feedback in any text field; matches your style in Mail and Messages |
| Visual Intelligence | Ask about anything on screen, like an image or PDF, from a screenshot |
| Photos editing | Clean Up for larger objects, Extend, and Spatial Reframing |
| Image Playground | Makes images in many styles, including photorealistic, and edits images from a description |
| Describe a shortcut | Builds a Shortcut from a plain-language description |
| Safari | Groups tabs by topic, Notify Me for price drops or restocks, Describe an Extension |
| Mail and Messages | One-click Suggestions, personalised Smart Reply, automatic proofreading in Messages |
| Calendar and Reminders | Create or edit events and reminders by describing them |
| Finder | Suggests file and folder names |
| Call Context | Shows relevant info from your apps when you call a business |
| Custom Siri voice | Choose a voice and change its expressiveness and pace (M3 or newer) |
| Accessibility | Image and scene descriptions in VoiceOver and Magnifier, cleanup in Accessibility Reader |
Apple also lists a Passwords app feature that flags weak passwords and can update them for you, marked as coming in a future update.
Which Macs Support Apple Intelligence
| Mac | Apple Intelligence | Custom Siri voice |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M1 or newer (2020+) | Yes | M3 or newer with 12 GB+ |
| iMac with M1 or newer (2021+) | Yes | M3 or newer with 12 GB+ |
| Mac mini with M1 or newer (2020+) | Yes | M3 or newer with 12 GB+ |
| Mac Studio (2022+) | Yes | 2025 models (M4 Max, M3 Ultra) or newer |
| Mac Pro with Apple silicon (2023) | Yes | No (M2 Ultra) |
| Any Intel Mac | No (macOS 27 needs Apple silicon) | No |
Note: Apple says Apple Intelligence uses up to 8 GB of storage on most Macs and up to 14 GB on M3 and newer Macs with at least 12 GB of memory. Keep that much space free.
If you’re also thinking about running your own AI models on a Mac, my M6 MacBook Pro and iMac for local AI guide covers the hardware side.
How to Turn On Apple Intelligence on Mac
- Back up with Time Machine or make sure your files are in iCloud.
- Update: open System Settings > General > Software Update and install macOS 27.2 or newer.
- Match your languages: in System Settings > General > Language & Region, set your Mac language. Siri must use the same supported language.
- Open System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and switch Apple Intelligence on if it isn’t already.
- Wait for the download. Keep the Mac on power and Wi-Fi while the on-device models download. It can take a while.
- Try Siri from the menu bar, with your Siri keyboard shortcut, or by typing in Spotlight, where Ask Siri can appear as the top result.
Warning: Apple Intelligence doesn’t work when the Mac is started from an external drive. Boot from the internal drive.
Siri AI on the Mac
Siri AI is still labelled beta, but it is a big step up from the old Siri. Apple’s new foundation models were built with help from Google’s Gemini technology under a deal announced in January 2026, and they run on your Mac or on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute.
What you can ask
- Open questions and brainstorming: “Give me five names for a cycling podcast.”
- Personal context: “Find the PDF Sam emailed me about the lease.”
- App actions: “Add milk to my shopping list” or “Play the playlist I made last week.”
- Past chats (27.2): “What was the restaurant you suggested on Tuesday?”
- Current info: Siri can use web sources for up-to-date answers.
The Siri app
Your Siri chats are now saved in the Siri app and sync between your iPhone and Mac, so you can start a conversation on your phone and finish it at your desk. Pin the chats you return to.
The iPhone side, including the 27.2 memory feature, is explained in my iOS 27.2 Siri guide and the wider iOS 27 Apple Intelligence guide.
Write With Siri in Any App
Write with Siri works in any text field, including Pages, Notes, Mail, web forms and many third-party apps.
- Click in a text field or select the text you want help with.
- Ask Siri to draft or improve it, for example “Write a polite reply saying I can do Thursday” or “Make this shorter and friendlier”.
- Ask for feedback instead of a rewrite if you want to keep your own words: “What’s unclear in this paragraph?”
- Review and insert the result.
In Mail and Messages, Siri matches your usual writing style and tone, so replies sound more like you. Messages also proofreads automatically.
Visual Intelligence on Mac
Visual Intelligence lets you ask about anything on your screen. It works from a screenshot, so it can handle images, PDFs, web pages and app windows.
- Take a screenshot of what you want to ask about.
- Ask Siri about the screenshot using the Visual Intelligence option that appears with it.
- Ask your question, like “Summarise this chart” or “What is this plant?”
Apple says Visual Intelligence needs the device language set to a supported English variant for now.
Photos: Clean Up, Extend and Spatial Reframing
- Clean Up now removes larger objects, not just small distractions.
- Extend grows the edges of a photo, useful when a crop is too tight.
- Spatial Reframing lets you adjust the framing of a shot after it was taken.
Open a photo in Photos, click Edit, and look for the new tools in the editing panel. These are cloud-assisted features, so they count toward daily usage limits.
For Google’s equivalent, see my Google Photos AI features guide.
Image Playground
Image Playground was rebuilt in macOS 27. It now makes images in many styles, including photorealistic ones, and can change an existing image from a text description.
- Open Image Playground from Spotlight or the Applications folder.
- Describe the image or add a photo to start from.
- Pick a style and generate.
- Refine with follow-up instructions such as “make it evening” or “add snow”.
Tip: Apple’s own creative apps also have AI tools now. My Apple Creator Studio AI guide covers the AI tools in Apple’s pro apps.
Describe a Shortcut and Other Time Savers
- Describe a shortcut: in the Shortcuts app, type what you want, like “Every Friday at 5 pm, zip my Downloads folder and move it to iCloud”. Apple Intelligence builds the shortcut, and you can edit it before saving.
- Calendar and Reminders: type “Lunch with Ana next Wednesday at 1 at Café Lisboa” and the event is created.
- Safari: tabs group themselves by topic, and Notify Me watches a page for a price drop or restock.
- Finder: suggests clear names for files and folders.
- Mail and Messages Suggestions: one-click actions such as adding an event mentioned in a chat (English only).
Languages, Regions and Limits
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Siri AI languages | English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish (five added in 27.2) |
| Apple Intelligence languages | Also Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish and Vietnamese |
| EU | Apple says EU users get the new photo editing, Image Playground and Safari features on Mac. Its “not initially in the EU” note for Siri AI names iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch |
| China mainland | Apple Intelligence doesn’t work on supported devices bought there |
| Age | Siri AI isn’t available to users under 13 |
| Daily limits | Cloud features such as Siri AI, photo editing, Image Playground and cloud models in Shortcuts have daily limits |
| Price | Free; Apple says paid expanded access will come later |
Privacy: What Runs on Your Mac
Simple requests run on the Mac itself. Bigger ones go to Private Cloud Compute, Apple’s own servers. Apple says it doesn’t store your data there, and that independent researchers can check the server software.
Your Mac refuses to connect if the server software doesn’t match what Apple published. If you want AI that never leaves your machine at all, you can run open models yourself; my MLX vs GGUF guide is a good starting point.
How to Turn Off Apple Intelligence
- Open System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri.
- Switch Apple Intelligence off. Features that need it, including Siri AI, stop working.
- To limit it instead, leave Apple Intelligence on and turn off Siri access for individual apps in their Siri settings.
Using Windows too? My guide to turning off Copilot and AI in Windows 11 covers the PC side.
Troubleshooting
I don’t see Apple Intelligence in System Settings
Check that you have an Apple silicon Mac and macOS 27 or newer. Then set your Mac and Siri languages to the same supported language.
It says “Preparing” or “Downloading” for a long time
Keep the Mac on power and Wi-Fi, free up 8-14 GB of storage, and leave it overnight. Restart if it hasn’t moved after a day.
Siri AI isn’t answering like the new Siri
Siri AI is in beta and depends on language and region. Use one of the six Siri AI languages and check that Apple Intelligence is on.
I hit a daily limit
Cloud features have daily limits. Wait until the next day, or use on-device features in the meantime.
Custom Siri voice is missing
It needs an M3 or newer Mac with at least 12 GB of memory.
Apple Intelligence stopped working after booting from another drive
It doesn’t work from an external boot drive. Restart from the internal drive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Macs support Apple Intelligence?
Any Mac with an M1 chip or newer running macOS 27. Intel Macs aren’t supported, and the custom Siri voice needs an M3 or newer Mac with 12 GB or more memory.
How do I turn on Apple Intelligence on my Mac?
Update to the latest macOS 27, open System Settings, choose Apple Intelligence and Siri, and switch Apple Intelligence on. Your Mac and Siri languages must match.
Is Apple Intelligence free on Mac?
Yes. Cloud-powered features have daily limits, and Apple says paid expanded access will come later.
How much storage does Apple Intelligence need on a Mac?
Up to 8 GB on most Macs and up to 14 GB on M3 and newer Macs with at least 12 GB of memory.
Does the new Siri use Google Gemini?
Apple’s new models were built with help from Google’s Gemini technology under a January 2026 deal, but Apple says they run on Apple devices and its Private Cloud Compute.
What’s new in macOS 27.2 for Apple Intelligence?
Siri remembers useful context from past conversations, uses more personal context, and speaks five more languages. Messages also gained one-click Suggestions.
Can I use Apple Intelligence on an Intel Mac?
No. macOS 27 runs only on Apple silicon Macs, and Apple Intelligence needs an M1 chip or newer.
Final Thoughts
With macOS 27, Apple Intelligence finally feels useful on the Mac. Write with Siri in any text box and Visual Intelligence from screenshots are the two features I’d try first, followed by Describe a shortcut if you’ve never managed to build one yourself.
Keep 14 GB free, match your languages, and give the models time to download. For the same features on your phone, read my iOS 27 Apple Intelligence guide.
