Updated July 2026 · causes verified against Apple's documentation and re-checked monthly
The short version: Apple's Writing Tools only appear when your Mac, region, language, and the app you're typing in all qualify. Below is every documented reason they're missing and the fix. If the fix is "buy a new Mac" or "wait for the app to support it" — Rewrite is a one-gesture rewriting tool that works in any Mac text field, with sensitive details pseudonymized on-device. Free while in beta.
Work down this list in order — it's sorted by how often each one turns out to be the cause.
| Cause | How to check / fix |
|---|---|
| Intel Mac | Apple Intelligence requires an Apple Silicon Mac — no Intel Mac gets Writing Tools on any macOS version. The only Apple-side fix is new hardware; see the alternative below. |
| macOS older than Sequoia 15.1 | Writing Tools ship with Apple Intelligence in macOS 15.1 and later. System Settings → General → Software Update. |
| Apple Intelligence turned off, or models not downloaded | System Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri → turn it on, then give the on-device models time to download. Note that switching it off removes the downloaded models, so re-enabling isn't instant. |
| Siri language ≠ device language, or unsupported language | Both must be set to the same supported language (16 as of macOS 26.1 — English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish). After changing Siri's language, Apple Intelligence can stay unavailable until the new language finishes downloading. Even "English (UK)" vs "English (US)" mismatches have tripped this. |
| The app you're typing in doesn't support it | Writing Tools only appear in apps using Apple's standard text views. Electron-based apps gained even context-menu support only with Electron v36 (mid-2025) — and each app has to ship that version — while apps with fully custom editors may never show them. There is no user-side fix; this is per-app. |
| Less than 7 GB of free storage | Apple Intelligence requires 7 GB on device for its models. Free up space, then re-enable it. |
| Region, account, or managed-Mac restrictions | Devices purchased in mainland China (or used there with a China-mainland Apple Account) are still excluded as of July 2026. On company Macs, MDM can disable Writing Tools system-wide (the allowWritingTools restriction) — ask your IT admin. |
Rewrite is a menu-bar app with one job: you're typing in any Mac app — Mail, Slack, Notion, Messages, a browser text box, anything with a text field — you double-tap the Option key, and your in-progress sentence is replaced at the caret with a clearer version of the same thing, in your voice. It takes free-form instructions ("shorter", "warmer", "make it sound less annoyed"), and a second gesture — double-tap Control on a highlighted message — drafts the reply for you.
Apple runs Writing Tools on-device or on its audited Private Cloud Compute — a genuinely strong setup. Rewrite's approach is different but built for the same instinct: before anything leaves your Mac, names, organizations, email addresses, and phone/card numbers are detected locally and swapped for placeholders. The masked text goes directly to your own signed-in ChatGPT or Claude account — Rewrite has no content servers — and the real values are restored on your Mac. The rewrite itself does run on a cloud model; the identifiers in your text don't make the trip.
The app's "What the AI sees" tab shows the exact payload of every request. Detection is best-effort — verify anything critical there; details in the privacy policy.
| Rewrite | Apple Writing Tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Works in | Any Mac app with a text field | Apps using Apple's standard text views; support varies by app |
| Requirements | macOS 14+ (Sonoma), Apple Silicon | Apple Silicon, macOS Sequoia 15.1+, 7 GB free storage, Apple Intelligence enabled |
| Availability | Everywhere, any system language | Most regions (mainland China still excluded, July 2026); device & Siri language must match one of 16 supported languages |
| How you invoke it | Double-tap ⌥ at the caret; result replaces your draft in place | Selection → menu/popover → operation → review panel |
| Custom instructions | Free-form, plus it learns how you sound from accepted rewrites | "Describe your change" free-form field + preset tones; doesn't learn your voice |
| Reply drafting | Double-tap ⌃ on a highlighted message | — |
| Where processing happens | Identifiers masked on-device; masked text to your own ChatGPT/Claude account | On-device and Apple's Private Cloud Compute |
| Price | Free while in beta | Free with a supported Mac |
If Writing Tools aren't available on your Mac, aren't available in your app, or keep handing back sentences that don't sound like you — that's the gap Rewrite exists for.
Free while in beta · macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon · signed & notarized direct download
No. Rewrite runs on any Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later — including Macs and regions where Apple Intelligence isn't available. Its on-device detection uses its own models, not Apple Intelligence.
It's a different trade. Writing Tools keep everything on-device or on Apple's Private Cloud Compute. Rewrite masks identifiers on-device but sends the masked sentence to a cloud model on your own ChatGPT or Claude account. Apple's pipeline is more conservative; Rewrite trades that for stronger models, any-app coverage, and instructions — while keeping names and numbers off the wire.
Because local models still aren't good enough at tone-preserving minimal edits, and quality is the product. Pseudonymization is the compromise: cloud-model quality on text whose identifiers never leave your Mac.
A free ChatGPT account works; Claude needs a Pro or Max plan. Rewrite rides whichever you sign into and can fall back to the other at usage limits.
No — like Apple Intelligence, Rewrite needs Apple Silicon (any M-series chip), because its detection models run on-device. macOS 14 or later.