Legal Disclaimer: This guide is provided for educational purposes only. By proceeding, you agree that the author is not responsible for any legal consequences or violations of Apple’s terms of service that may result from using this solution. Use at your own risk.

The Problem

My journey began with a simple mistake: I didn’t purchase my Mac in the US. Little did I know this geographical oversight would lock me out of Apple Intelligence features when updating to macOS 15.4.1. Despite having capable hardware, Apple’s region-based eligibility checks prevented access to these AI features.

For earlier macOS versions (15.0-15.3.1), Kyle-Ye’s XcodeLLMEligible project worked perfectly. However, Apple changed the implementation of eligibilityd in macOS 15.4, requiring a new approach.

The Solution

The script below uses LLDB to modify the eligibilityd process in memory based on techniques by GitHub user @songjialin, with some timing adjustments to ensure persistent modifications across service restarts.

Prerequisites:

  1. macOS 15.4.1 or later
  2. SIP partially disabled (keep reading)

Step 1: Disable System Integrity Protection (Partially)

Boot into Recovery Mode:

  1. Shut down your Mac
  2. Press and hold the power button until “Loading startup options” appears
  3. Click Options > Continue
  4. Enter your password if prompted

In Recovery, open Terminal from the Utilities menu and run:

csrutil enable --without debug

Restart your Mac normally.

Step 2: Download and Run the Script

Open Terminal and run:

curl -fsSL https://gist.github.com/Willian-Zhang/c34861d2010414bd972f48d32d8d7006/raw/eligibilityfix.sh | sudo bash

The script will:

  • Install itself at /usr/local/bin/eligibilityfix.sh
  • Create a LaunchDaemon to automatically run whenever the eligibility service starts
  • Modify the region code to enable Apple Intelligence

Step 3: Restart and Enjoy

Restart your Mac, and Apple Intelligence features should now be available in System Settings.

Known Limitations

  • This solution may not work with future macOS updates as Apple could change the implementation of eligibilityd again.
  • While the script automatically runs when the eligibility service starts, major system updates might require you to run the script again manually.

All Apple Intelligence features, including Writing Tools, Clean up, Image Playground, and Siri improvements, should work as expected after applying this solution. Some features may require additional iCloud settings to be enabled.

If This Solution Doesn’t Work

If you’re experiencing issues with this solution, you can try using Kyle-Ye’s XcodeLLMEligible project first. This project provides a different approach to enabling Apple Intelligence features and has been proven to work on macOS versions 15.0-15.3.1.

To use XcodeLLMEligible:

  1. Visit the project repository
  2. Follow their installation instructions, whichever they recommended, might need to temporarily disable SIP.
  3. If you still encounter issues, come back and try this guide again

Note that while XcodeLLMEligible may not work on macOS 15.4 and later due to Apple’s changes to the eligibilityd implementation, my script addresses these changes and should work for both approaches.

How It Works

The script uses lldb to modify the eligibilityd process, changing the device region code to “US” and forcing a recalculation of feature eligibility. This bypasses Apple’s regional restrictions without modifying system files.

How to Uninstall

If you need to remove the hack, run the following command in Terminal:

sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.chinaSKU.eligibility.fix.plist && sudo rm -f /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.chinaSKU.eligibility.fix.plist && sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/eligibilityfix.sh

This will unload the LaunchDaemon, remove the plist file, and delete the script.

Disclaimer

This is provided for educational purposes only. Future macOS updates may break this workaround.

This guide and the associated script are provided “AS IS”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied. The author is not responsible for any damage or issues that may arise from using this solution. Users are advised to:

  1. Back up their system before attempting any modifications
  2. Understand that modifying system processes may violate Apple’s terms of service
  3. Use this information at their own risk
  4. Be aware that this solution may become obsolete with future macOS updates

The author does not guarantee the functionality, safety, or legality of this solution in any jurisdiction. Users are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with local laws and Apple’s terms of service.

Source code