Blogger says macOS 27 quietly re-enabled Apple Intelligence he had switched off
A developer's account of Apple restoring AI/Siri features after an explicit opt-out draws sharp reader pushback on Hacker News and Lobsters.
What to know
- A developer says macOS 27 re-enabled Apple Intelligence and Siri components he had previously and explicitly disabled in macOS 15.
- Apple removed the direct toggle for 'Apple Intelligence' from the control where Siri is disabled, leaving only hidden Screen Time parental-control settings to hide (not disable) the tools.
- The author ties the incident to a broader complaint that the AI industry does not respect user consent, citing storage price hikes and other AI-industry news as further evidence.
- The post gained rapid traction on Hacker News (51 points, 22 comments) and Lobsters (24 points, 7 comments) the same day it was published.
dbushell Blogger and developer, author of the postApple Maker of macOS and Apple Intelligence/Siri
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
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Post spreads across Hacker News, Lobsters and Mastodon
The piece reached the Hacker News front page (51 points, 22 comments), Lobsters (24 points, 7 comments) and was shared on Mastodon within hours of publication.
“I said "no" and turned it off.”
— dbushell, Blogger · source -
Example #87,293,021 where someone's complaint about AI is mostly a complaint about capitalism in disguise, even if they don't recognize it. Complaining about tech companies foisting things on users is way, way older than LLMs. - IE bundling in Windows, which led to an anti-trust case - Sony's DRM rootkit that stuck copy protection rootkits on…
2 more of the top 3 · 65 posts in this stretch
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«The “AI” industry has many flaws, the word “consent” being seemingly missing from training data and company handbooks is one of them. AI bros do not take “no” for an answer.» I said no and Apple said yes – David Bushell https:// dbushell.com/2026/09/22/apple- intelligence/
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Because Linux is full of sharp edges which nobody seems to find it fit to fix.I’ve been dabbling in Linux since the early 2000s with Yellow Dog, SUSE, and Ubuntu, tried making it my daily driver in the early-mid 2010s, and for the past 5 or so years have been using it in a secondary/tertiary role.Recently I’ve been trying to move my gaming box…
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dbushell publishes 'I said no and Apple said yes,' indicting AI-industry consent
The blog post argues the re-enabling is trivial compared to a broader 'consent problem' across the AI industry, linking it to storage price increases and a list of AI-industry harms he has been tracking.
“The AI industrial complex does not do consent. You will use it. You cannot look away, it will be stuffed down your throat and if you say "no" they'll cut out your tongue.”
— dbushell -
2 outlets I said no and Apple said yes
first by HN Best, 1d ago · also HN Frontpage
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background
He finds Apple Intelligence toggle removed and Siri processes persisting — Digging through settings, he found the 'Apple Intelligence' control removed from where he'd disabled Siri, and multiple unkillable Siri processes still running and consuming memory; only hidden Screen Time parental-control settings let him hide, not disable, the tools.
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dbushell upgrades macOS 15 to macOS 27 — After 'succumbing to Apple's harassment,' he upgraded and found Apple Intelligence-related tools active again despite having previously turned off 'Apple Intelligence & Siri.'
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Apple advertises its Apple Intelligence 'deepfake' feature — dbushell says Apple's June advertising of the feature made clear to him that Apple does not 'think different' on AI.
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dbushell disables a macOS feature phoning home every 15 minutes — He discovered macOS 15.3 had enabled a feature sending personal data every 15 minutes and turned it off, noting Apple hid the toggle to disable it deeper than the toggle to enable it.
What people are saying 21 voices from 3 sites · best of 66 · verbatim
- Yesterday
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Because the Linux kernel is only usable for regular Joe and Janes, when hidden away underneath a Java based userspace (Android), a Web based userspace (ChromeOS and WebOS), or hidden in consumer electronics firmware (DVD and Bluray players, washing machines, ...)Regular Joe and Jane, don't care about UNIX experience, want a ready to use computer…
- Sep 22
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Be forewarned if you're thinking of updating your MacOS to the latest version (or getting a new Mac): Apparently the latest version will turn on various "AI" systems and overhead processes whether you want it to or not: https:// dbushell.com/2026/09/22/apple- intelligence/ More details about where to find Apple's various "off" switches in the new…
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I don't know what metric Apple implemented that has caused these engagement spam prompts (ads) to appear in their platform, but I want none of it. I've turned Siri off in the latest macOS and iOS because it's so damn slow. I'm bullish on local LLM compute but Apple it's not ready yet or not in the way you've integrated into the user interface!…
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The Internet is suggesting a bunch of hacks and undocumented defaults commands to run.Meanwhile the Mac User Guide explains how to disable Apple Intelligence throughout Golden Gate:https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/turn-restrict-acces...Here's the version for iPhone:https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iph3fed3f2c3/io...For iPad:
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I'm convinced we have crossed a threshold where compute is no longer personal, it's platformed. "They" don't want you to have control over your machine as they don't trust you with it. They want you to buy the things they want you to buy, envy the people they want you to envy, submit your data to the collective, so they can control markets and…
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I'm in the same boat; been using linux for the last 15 years. Had to get a mac for work this year due to their logging software not being available on linux.The laptop quality is great; great sound, battery lasts forever compared to mine (framework). Userspace tools and UI is terrible and have no control over but the hardware and the software…
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We’re in a bubble.Yes, an anti-AI mood had entered the mainstream (anti-data center in particular), but I don’t think people will connect this to that.For most people, this Apple Intelligence change isn’t a ‘really hostile’ move. They keep the default settings. They have disk space, because most people don’t use terabytes of space, and Macs come…
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> In fact, as a consumer we have a slightly better chance of having success there on a "micro" level rather than on a "macro" level. The fact that you consider yourself (and ourselves) consumers is the biggest victory of neoliberal capitalism and the whole reason we are stuck in this mess. You are not a consumer. You are a worker. You, first and…
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> On linux for 15+ years and everytime I try to use mac or win, it is an ordeal. And ads.I've been using Linux since the a.out days and MacOS X since the PowerPC days, and I find MacOS less of an ordeal for day-to-day tasks as my terminal/workstation. I sysadmin Linux (and previously also Solaris and IRIX) servers for a living. It's been several…
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Author claims the system setting "Privacy & Security > Apple Intelligence Report > Report Duration" with its 3 options [Off | 15 minutes | 7 days] sends that data to Apple with that frequency. This is wrong - this is a transparency report so that you as a user can see everything that is getting sent to Apple as a part of Apple Intelligence…
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I said no and Apple said yes: https:// dbushell.com/2026/09/22/apple- intelligence/ Discussion: http:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9797982
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DRM and in particular its legal protection under the DMCA is largely the pry bar with which most of this stuff is allowed to happen. It makes it so that things you've own, even physical items, can have masters other than you, and it's very illegal for you to attempt to tamper with that logic. The circumstances that have allowed this is not the…
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I believe the question was for kingmob indeed, I think your solution/alternative was pretty clear in the article :)
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Why can't it be a complaint of both? GenAI is obviously horrible and the incentive structures of capitalism also turn everything into a race to the bottom.
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> The AI industrial complex does not do consent. You will use it.I posted a thread on thr MacRumors forum making a similar point. I tried to couch it in the language of Apple being inconsistent with Apple Intelligence. You can’t turn it off anymore globally but Apple provides the user the ability to block, not turn off, some parts of it. Even then…
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> someone's complaint about AI is mostly a complaint about capitalism Given the extent of spying in the communist USSR and GDR I don't think your analysis holds water. Perhaps there's a difference though: it's private corporations doing the spying rather than the state. But that's a _strength_ of capitalism, not a weakness! (Since "capitalism"…
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I feel this one is genuinely nothing to do with AI specifically, though I wouldn’t particularly link it to capitalism either. The ratchet from absent to opt-out to mandatory, often with one or two resets or violations of your option in the interim, is a well-established pattern. Perhaps the worst part of it is that each step along the way *makes…
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You might be right but in the process also hand waving away this new wave of capitalist bullshit as "yet another round". Which I think is harmful in itself. To be clear, I think we should be critical of the system overall as much as possible. But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be critical to individual symptoms of that system either. In fact, as…
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well for a start not having it forced upon me at my every inconvenience would be nice edit: not sure if you were replying to me the indentation is confusing!
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Example #87,293,021 of someone dismissing the AI industrial harm as "capitalism" as if that's reason to dismiss. I'd argue there is something more. For example, there are laws and rights that are supposed to protect us from the worst of capitalism, none of which seem to apply to the AI industry. (and yes, my complaint is rather trivial compared to…
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blogged: I said no and Apple said yes https:// dbushell.com/2026/09/22/apple- intelligence/ just more AI industrial complex bullshit