Apple Intelligence loaded but not working on iPhone 17 Pro

I got mine working again. I followed the below steps to eliminate known bugs (ie, wifi drop out when screen locked). 

• Disabled Apple Intelligence on my MacBook and iPad
• Set iPhone display to never auto lock
• Ensured connection to strong/ stable wifi available 
• Disabled wifi-assist
• Disabled mobile data
• Created new iCloud backup 
• Factory reset iPhone and setup through iCloud backup keeping phone plugged in to power
• Never let screen lock once during the whole iCloud restore process - even throughout the beginning of the restore loading bar screen
• Once iPhone booted up and was usable - when going through the get started pages I enabled Apple Intelligence
• Then while apps and data was still downloading in the background - ensure mobile data still set to off and connected to wifi only, display to never auto lock
• Left it overnight plugged into power to completely restore full back up with screen unlocked, display brightness at its lowest with a pure black photo to protect the oled display overnight

It has been 2 days since so hopefully it stays 🤦‍♂️ and the storage settings said it was 6.25gb once completed in the morning.

I had the same problem; the download got stuck at 6.53GB and only continued after I followed exactly these steps. It still took a little while. But after I completely switched the language to English (US) and deactivated mobile data (or the entire phone number), Apple Intelligence downloaded properly and is now working as it should. Thanks for the help!

In an update to my earlier post I tried again (for the 100th time) to change the language to US from UK and then switched off mobile data and kept the screen on for a few minutes. I was not plugged into power and my Apple Intelligence download is now up from 6.59 GB to 10.09 GB and it’s working fine.

TLDR I’m expecting another software update this week (Tuesday?).

So the same issue is plaguing me - 17 pro. I’ve been told that Apple is working on a 26.0.x fix and it’s thought that the issue is caused when upgrading to a new iPhone when the previous iPhone had Apple Intelligence also (15 pro or later) and during the new phone set up process the files were copied from the old iPhone (i.e not restored from iCloud back up). The alleged sign that this is the case is that if the customer disables Apple Intelligence the phone only deletes the first 70mb of files. (Mine went from 6.59gb to 6.53gb.)

Now I don’t know how true all this is but that’s what I was told after speaking with a customer services agent for ages and then complaining due to misinformation regarding the deletion of wifi passwords. This caused me to speak with someone allegedly more in the know.

US-Same thing here. 17 pro, it worked the first 2 days then I noticed Siri changed back to the old one. Still stuck in downloading. Spoke with support on the phone, went through all the troubleshooting (turning it on/off, changed language and region, hard reboot, resetting all settings)-still nothing. The rep told me I’m just gonna have to wait until an update comes out.

I have had problems with AI since I purchased the 17 pro max. I spoke to Apple customer care, and went through the whole steps of getting AI to work and nothing. I waited for updated, and nothing. Last I spoke again with another Apple care representative and he told me he had the same issue and what helped him was to factory reset and restore iPhone. He did say that the last update 26.0.1 was for other bug related issues not for AI, they are working on another update specific for AI issues. I’ll wait for the update, since I don’t feel like doing the whole factory reset. Hopefully that works

I guess he means the "99%" that appears sometimes on the page somewhere in the middle (scroll down). I think it downloaded a corrupted file, and the download was actually finished, but because the file can't be read correctly, it stays in this strange place between finished loading and not working. The only solution would be to delete the downloaded file and re-initialize the download. But the only way seems to be a complete restore of the device. Unless there is another way, but we will never know as no one at Apple support cares to participate in this discussion.

It just fixed for me, randomly … all I did was change the language to US from UK and then switched off mobile data and kept the screen on for a few minutes. I was not plugged into power and my Apple Intelligence download is now up from 6.59 GB to 10.09 GB and it’s working fine.

I tried the same and also filled the storage completely, but it did not start to remove the Apple Intelligence files. I guess the only ways to solve this are restoring the device from a backup or waiting for 26.1.

My Apple Intelligence start to work today. Probably because I kept the Automatic updates - System files - automatically install - on

17PM since launch day, Apple Intelligence has not worked at all for me— stuck on downloading, shows 6.59 GB in storage settings, no toggle for on/off. I’ve tried switching regions and languages, cycling power, trying every configuration of network settings, nothing has worked so far.

So I had posted here a few days ago explaining that Apple customer service had told me to wait for the next update after the recent update didn’t fix AI. Well just right now I get a notification saying AI is ready to use, and there it was, AI functional. I used Siri, Playground, Genmoji… it just started working, I guess after a couple of weeks of downloading lol

For what it’s worth, I’ve had the same problems since a few dates after I got my 17 Pro Max. iOS 26.0.1 did not help. None of the above suggestions helped. It’s been broken for weeks.

Today I said “hey Siri” to my phone and I got the glowing edges Apple AI. I’ve changed nothing. Apple AI is back. Must have been a server-side issue!

Fingers crossed it stays!

Same issue. 17 Pro Max ios26 Apple Intelligence worked first couple of days and now says it’s downloading, needs wifi and connected to power. I can even see the 6.59gb in storage.

Tried restarting phone, changing language and region but no luck.

Anyone find anything that works? I’m in Aus.