Missing Image Playground app on my Mac mini after macOS 15.2 update

You know, I have macOS Sequoia v15.2 installed on my U.S. M4 Mac Mini Pro and there is no Image Playground application present. I have selected Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Get Apple Intelligence to see if that magically installs the missing Image Playground. That Get Apple Intelligence takes about 30 minutes before it switches from In Progress to Downloading. A real dog…

And the above finally installed Image Playground. It also automatically enabled every single application in my Applications folder to use Apple Intelligence including Microsoft Autoupdate and Script Editor. No fun undoing that nonsense.

For everyone scratching their head—I had the same problem. The only issue was that my device language was EN-US while the language used in Siri was EN-UK. I've changed the Siri language to EN-US (basically, both need to be the same), and voila! There will be a button saying 'Get Apple Intelligence.' Click on it, and you'll eventually get the intelligence features, including Image Playground. It takes a while, around 15-30 minutes.

Hope this helps!

As quoted from this newsroom article Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, and more - Apple

"The experience is integrated right into Messages, making it easier than ever to create images for conversations, as well as into apps like Freeform, Keynote, and many others. Image Playground is also available as a brand-new dedicated app."

Image Playground is not available as a separate download. I resized its window without issue.

Try booting into Safe Mode then restart normally. Sometimes that will fix anomalies.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Image Playground is not in the App Store. It's part of macOS Sequoia 15.2.

I had a similar problem. What I did is a Spotlight search for Image Playground, and there were options to enable.

This did the trick for me! Very simple. Thank-you!!!

I have the same issue on an M2 generation machine. I'm in the U.S. and my region is set correctly. I just updated to macOS 15.2, and Image Playground has not appeared in the Applications folder. I hope a reinstall of Sequoia isn't necessary, as I'm not going to jump through that hoop just for this app.

I don't know what the issue may be. Image Playground is included with Sequoia 15.2 on my M3 iMac & M2 MacBook Air. The only Mac it isn't included with is an Imac Pro running 15.2, which is as it should be.

If I recall, you have a much faster ISP connection than I do, and that may explain the memory lapse… 😉

My Synology RT6600ax router was delivering a reasonably consistent Wi-Fi 6 1200 Mbps signal to the M4 mini with Sequoia v15.1.1. With no other changes than upgrading to v15.2, with the same SSID, I now am lucky to exceed 400 - 600 Mbps and get a 5Ghz/20Mhz signal. I have rebooted the router and the M4 mini to no avail. My 2021 MBP M1 Pro is 3 feet from the M4 mini and gets 1200 Mbps from that same SSID at 5Ghz/80Mhz signal and it is also running 15.2.

This might explain the bog factor getting Apple Intelligence this morning.

Something I've discovered that might help: No only will Image Playground only show up in the Applications folder after upgrading to macOS 15.2 once you've gone through the waitlist procedure for Apple Intelligence, it will remain invisible to accounts that AREN'T signed to an Apple account that has AI enabled.

Example: My system has two user accounts, my normal user account (without admin privileges, which is signed in to my Apple account and has AI enabled) and an admin account (which typically isn't signed in to my Apple Account). I found that Image playground appears for my normal user account but not the admin account.

Mac Mini M2 upgraded to MacOS 15.2 but no sign of Image Playground in App folder or in App Store.

(heads-up: There is a 3rd party app called Image Playground by Yudai Yamani)

How do I get the real app on my Mac? Region set properly (US).

Apple Intelligence on Mac OS 15.2 is NOT automatic as advertised  -  after installing the OS upgrade, you must separately install those features (Image Playground, etc.) via the Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri. It can take a while, but eventually works.

Image playground missing two days ago on my IMac (MI running Sequoia 15.2) but present on my 26 Pro. Then yesterday it appeared on my iMac M1 with the playground even installed and in my tray. Today, however, it is missing AGAIN on my Mac. (Sequoia 15.2) but still fine on my 16 Pro. So what’s the deal?!!

The only thing I can suggest is reinstall Sequoia while in Safe Mode.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support