Apple Resolves Issues with AI Models in iPhone 17 Lineup
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If you’ve recently picked up one of this year’s new iPhone models and were surprised by their seeming lack of Apple Intelligence, there’s some good news, as it looks like Apple has resolved this issue — and we didn’t even have to wait for an iOS update to get it.
Even in iOS 26, Apple Intelligence remains a feature that users need to opt into. Since the AI language models (LLMs) that power Apple Intelligence are quite large, Apple doesn’t preinstall them on new iPhones or include them as part of its core operating system. Instead, they’re downloaded from Apple’s servers when Apple Intelligence is enabled, either by responding to a prompt during initial setup or toggling on the switch in the iPhone Settings app. This way, space isn’t needlessly wasted for those who don’t have any use for Apple’s AI features.
This year’s iPhone models were no exception; they shipped without the LLMs preinstalled. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear, some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models — as well as Apple’s new iPhone Air — were unable to download the necessary files, either during initial setup or even after toggling Apple Intelligence on and off several times.
The problem didn’t appear to affect all new iPhones, which made it even more mysterious — and frustrating — for those who found themselves locked out of Apple Intelligence. Those affected have been unable to use Apple Intelligence since purchasing their new iPhones — a situation that’s both disappointing and somewhat ironic, given that Apple has often advertised it as a major selling point for the iPhone.
When iOS 26.0.1 failed to resolve the issue, many feared they’d have to wait until the end of October for the release of iOS 26.1 to gain access to Apple Intelligence.
Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that the problem was on the iPhone side. Since the models are downloaded directly from Apple’s servers, Apple was likely able to correct the issue remotely — likely by adjusting availability or authentication parameters for the model downloads.
The fix was reported by MacRumors, after contributor Aaron Perris discovered that they are now able to download the necessary AI models.
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 Fix Apple Intelligence Model Download Issues on iPhone
There’s nothing special that needs to be done on the iPhone side to activate this fix, although it may be necessary to toggle Apple Intelligence off and back on again if it’s currently sitting in a state where it’s stuck:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Select Apple Intelligence & Siri.
- If Apple Intelligence is off, toggle it on. If this setting is already enabled and no error messages are displayed, it means the AI models were likely automatically downloaded after the fix was made, and you should be ready to go. If an error message appears here, toggle Apple Intelligence off, wait a few seconds, and then toggle it back on again.
In some cases, it may also be necessary to restart your iPhone before re-enabling Apple Intelligence.
Keep in mind that the Apple Intelligence models will take some time to download. Since we’re talking about several gigabytes of data, it’s also best to do this over a reasonably fast Wi-Fi connection. Apple doesn’t technically say that Wi-Fi is required — merely “recommended” — but we’ve seen numerous reports suggesting that they won’t download properly over cellular, even when using a fast 5G connection. Even over Wi-Fi, the full download can take anywhere from several minutes to over an hour, depending on your internet speed, so don’t be surprised if enabling Apple Intelligence takes a while.
