There's a repeated claim that since some organizations won't allow generative AI installations, they also won't buy new Macs because of macOS Golden Gate. So, we looked into the claim and talked to actual IT managers and buyers.

Here's the thinking: Apple removed the setting for turning off Apple Intelligence, therefore you can't turn it off. Therefore, organizations that refuse to use AI cannot use macOS Golden Gate and Apple Intelligence, QED.

Picture John Ternus with a sandwich halfway to his mouth, suddenly shocked as he realizes Apple has prevented corporations buying hundreds of thousands of Macs.

The truth is that individuals can remove Apple Intelligence, if not especially easily. But corporations can disable it entirely, and remotely, with just a click of a button.

That's because organizations who deploy IT to their staff do so using Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems such as Jamf. At the very least, it's how they can install updates on a few thousand Macs or iPhones without going to each device separately.

But its real strength is in how it means the corporation can decide what is or is not allowed on these devices. AppleInsider checked whether this is still the case, speaking off the record with a series of organizations who have policies against the use of generative AI.

Total unconcern

"We can do enough with Jamf to turn what we want off, and prevent installations of third-party [AI] apps," an IT manager of a Fortune 500 company with an office in Metro DC told us on Thursday morning. "Besides. Most of Apple's tools I wouldn't call a security threat. This isn't something like OpenAI that goes rogue and pillages networks if you let it. Writing Tools, for example, are fine."

A second IT manager in the Austin, TX area, also from a Fortune 500 company, echoed the above remarks. They too saw the last few days of reporting about it, and said from a business perspective that "if you don't have MDM to control what you want installed or used, you're an idiot" and that the existing tools were sufficient to deal with Apple Intelligence.

A military IT manager also told us that there isn't any real threat from Apple Intelligence. While they're watching it as it evolves, they've had discussions with Apple in Reston, VA about it.

There are no DOD prohibitions on purchasing new Apple hardware for secure facilities because of Apple Intelligence as of October 2026. Some uses still require hardware modifications removing Wi-Fi chips by a third party, though.

A fourth IT manager at a large Department of Defense contractor scoffed at the suggestion that Apple Intelligence would be an issue. He said that there are so many controls on both Apple hardware and software, that there wasn't an issue preventing purchase.

They also have MDM profiles from an unnamed vendor preventing installation of models from other companies, though.

We did tell them that there were apps and command line tools to remove Apple Intelligence models from their computers, saving space. The first three were using them already, and the fourth thanked us for letting them know that they existed.

Simply nonsense

None of these IT managers had the slightest concern about Apple Intelligence. None will change their hardware purchases because of it. We have more questions out to more potential buyers, so we'll update if we hear differently.

No one should be surprised at that. It's not clear how many firms have anti-AI policies, and of course Apple never releases information about its sales to enterprise firms.

Or almost never. All the way back in 2015, Tim Cook revealed that Apple had made $25 billion from enterprise sales in the preceding 12 months.

That's 11 years ago. There is a chance that Apple's sales to corporations have grown just a little since then, and no chance at all that it would purposely endanger that.