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THE USEFUL TECH
📘 THE DEEP DIVE · WEDNESDAY TUTORIAL · ISSUE #015
👋 HEY, IT'S RAJA
Ask Siri AI something and the answer can come from 3 different places: your own device, Apple's servers, or, since June, servers Apple uses inside Google Cloud.
Apple keeps a log of which one handled each request, 3 taps deep in Settings. Today, what each place means for your data, how to read that log, and the apps that never send anything anywhere.
📘 Where Siri AI actually answers you
On-device, Private Cloud Compute, and now Google Cloud.
#1 On your device
Simple requests run on the Apple Intelligence model built into your iPhone or Mac. Nothing leaves the device, and it works without a connection.
How much stays local depends on your hardware. On the Mac, the newer, more capable on-device model needs an M3 chip or later with 12GB of memory. Older Macs hand more of the work to the cloud.
#2 Private Cloud Compute
Bigger requests go to Apple's own servers, which run on Apple silicon. Apple's rules for them are strict: your data is used only for that one request, it isn't stored, and independent researchers can inspect the software the servers run.
#3 Google Cloud
On 8 June, Apple said some Private Cloud Compute work now runs on Google Cloud servers with NVIDIA GPUs, using NVIDIA's Confidential Computing. Apple also said the full set of protections would be added gradually during the beta.
It still runs under the Private Cloud Compute name and rules. The difference is that the hardware sits in Google's data centres instead of Apple's.
How to see where your requests went
On a Mac:
Open System Settings and click Privacy & Security.
Scroll down and click Apple Intelligence Report.
Choose Last 15 minutes or Last 7 days.
Click Export Activity. It saves a file called Apple_Intelligence_Report.json.
On an iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Intelligence Report, with the same 2 time ranges.
What's inside the file
Each request is listed with whether it ran on your device or on Private Cloud Compute. TidBITS found the file also holds the hidden instructions Apple sends along with your request, and the longer answers Siri drafted but didn't read out to you.
It also contains your own requests and personal details, so remove those before you share it with anyone.
💡 Tip: Export the 7-day report on an ordinary weekday. You'll see how much of what you ask actually leaves your device.
NEW FROM ME
Ask your texts a question, and the answer never leaves your Mac.
Textlore is the Mac app I built for your whole Messages history. Its Ask AI feature answers questions about your texts in plain words using Apple's on-device model, and shows you the exact messages it used to answer.
Around it, you get instant search across every year of texts, every photo saved before macOS clears it, and exports of any chat. No account, no servers, nothing uploaded. Ask AI needs a Mac with Apple Intelligence.
Try it free for 14 days.
Apps that never leave your device
If you’d rather nothing leaves at all, a growing number of apps run their AI fully on your iPhone or Mac. The one I’d start with is Locally AI.
Locally AI is a free chat app that runs open AI models like Gemma, Qwen and Llama directly on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Apple’s own on-device model comes built in, it works in airplane mode, and it needs no account. Some of its models can even read a photo and answer questions about it offline.
More apps like this are in my private AI roundup, out Friday.
See you Friday.
Keep it useful,
Raja · The Useful Tech
P.S. Enjoyed this? Forward it to a friend who loves their Apple gear a little too much.