diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleAvailability.swift b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleAvailability.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cd242f2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleAvailability.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+//
+//  AppleAvailability.swift
+//  AppleLLM
+//
+
+import Foundation
+
+/// Mirrors `SystemLanguageModel.Availability` so that the reason why Apple
+/// Intelligence is unavailable survives the bridge to JavaScript.
+enum AppleAvailability: String {
+  case available
+  case deviceNotEligible
+  case appleIntelligenceNotEnabled
+  case modelNotReady
+  case unsupportedOS
+  case unknown
+
+  /// Human readable explanation, used to give `MODEL_UNAVAILABLE` errors the
+  /// same level of detail as `getAvailability()`.
+  var unavailableDescription: String {
+    switch self {
+    case .available:
+      return "Apple Intelligence model is available"
+    case .deviceNotEligible:
+      return "Apple Intelligence model is not available: this device is not eligible for Apple Intelligence"
+    case .appleIntelligenceNotEnabled:
+      return "Apple Intelligence model is not available: Apple Intelligence is not enabled in Settings"
+    case .modelNotReady:
+      return "Apple Intelligence model is not available: the model is not ready yet, it may still be downloading"
+    case .unsupportedOS:
+      return "Apple Intelligence not available on this iOS version"
+    case .unknown:
+      return "Apple Intelligence model is not available"
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLM.mm b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLM.mm
index 1b5d70d9..673d0b24 100644
--- a/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLM.mm
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLM.mm
@@ -174,5 +174,9 @@ - (nonnull NSNumber *)isAvailable {
   return @([_llm isAvailable]);
 }
 
+- (nonnull NSString *)getAvailability {
+  return [_llm getAvailability];
+}
+
 
 @end
diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMError.swift b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMError.swift
index 8b9a7a36..66e9e1f0 100644
--- a/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMError.swift
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMError.swift
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import Foundation
 
 enum AppleLLMError: Error, LocalizedError {
-  case modelUnavailable
+  case modelUnavailable(AppleAvailability)
   case unsupportedOS
   case generationError(String)
   case streamNotFound(String)
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ enum AppleLLMError: Error, LocalizedError {
   
   var errorDescription: String? {
     switch self {
-    case .modelUnavailable:
-      return "Apple Intelligence model is not available"
+    case .modelUnavailable(let availability):
+      return availability.unavailableDescription
     case .unsupportedOS:
       return "Apple Intelligence not available on this iOS version"
     case .generationError(let message):
diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMImpl.swift b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMImpl.swift
index b1f0aed7..009d2dd2 100644
--- a/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMImpl.swift
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/ios/AppleLLMImpl.swift
@@ -20,19 +20,39 @@ public class AppleLLMImpl: NSObject {
   
   private var streamTasks: [String: Task<Void, Never>] = [:]
   
-  @objc
-  public func isAvailable() -> Bool {
+  private func currentAvailability() -> AppleAvailability {
 #if canImport(FoundationModels)
     if #available(iOS 26, *) {
-      return SystemLanguageModel.default.availability == .available
+      switch SystemLanguageModel.default.availability {
+      case .available:
+        return .available
+      case .unavailable(.deviceNotEligible):
+        return .deviceNotEligible
+      case .unavailable(.appleIntelligenceNotEnabled):
+        return .appleIntelligenceNotEnabled
+      case .unavailable(.modelNotReady):
+        return .modelNotReady
+      case .unavailable:
+        return .unknown
+      }
     } else {
-      return false
+      return .unsupportedOS
     }
 #else
-    return false
+    return .unsupportedOS
 #endif
   }
 
+  @objc
+  public func getAvailability() -> String {
+    return currentAvailability().rawValue
+  }
+
+  @objc
+  public func isAvailable() -> Bool {
+    return currentAvailability() == .available
+  }
+
   @objc
   public func countTokens(
     _ text: String,
@@ -41,10 +61,11 @@ public class AppleLLMImpl: NSObject {
   ) {
 #if canImport(FoundationModels)
     if #available(iOS 26.4, *) {
-      guard SystemLanguageModel.default.availability == .available else {
+      let availability = currentAvailability()
+      guard availability == .available else {
         reject(
           "MODEL_UNAVAILABLE",
-          "Apple Intelligence model is not available",
+          availability.unavailableDescription,
           nil
         )
         return
@@ -77,8 +98,9 @@ public class AppleLLMImpl: NSObject {
   ) {
 #if canImport(FoundationModels)
     if #available(iOS 26, *) {
-      guard SystemLanguageModel.default.availability == .available else {
-        rejectWithAppleError(.modelUnavailable, reject: reject)
+      let availability = currentAvailability()
+      guard availability == .available else {
+        rejectWithAppleError(.modelUnavailable(availability), reject: reject)
         return
       }
 
@@ -144,8 +166,9 @@ public class AppleLLMImpl: NSObject {
   ) {
 #if canImport(FoundationModels)
     if #available(iOS 26, *) {
-      guard SystemLanguageModel.default.availability == .available else {
-        emitStreamError(.modelUnavailable, streamId: streamId, onError: onError)
+      let availability = currentAvailability()
+      guard availability == .available else {
+        emitStreamError(.modelUnavailable(availability), streamId: streamId, onError: onError)
         return
       }
 
diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/src/AppleFoundationModels.ts b/packages/apple-llm/src/AppleFoundationModels.ts
index 2cae01dc..c7978fb0 100644
--- a/packages/apple-llm/src/AppleFoundationModels.ts
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/src/AppleFoundationModels.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ const nativeAppleLLM = NativeAppleLLM as Spec & {
 
 const AppleFoundationModels: Spec = {
   isAvailable: () => NativeAppleLLM.isAvailable(),
+  getAvailability: () => NativeAppleLLM.getAvailability(),
   countTokens: (text) => {
     if (typeof nativeAppleLLM.countTokens !== 'function') {
       return Promise.reject(new Error(tokenCountingUnavailableMessage))
diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/src/NativeAppleLLM.ts b/packages/apple-llm/src/NativeAppleLLM.ts
index 88a7456e..17930a50 100644
--- a/packages/apple-llm/src/NativeAppleLLM.ts
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/src/NativeAppleLLM.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,27 @@ export interface AppleMessage {
   content: string
 }
 
+/**
+ * Availability of Apple Intelligence, mirroring `SystemLanguageModel.Availability`.
+ *
+ * - `available` - the model is ready to use
+ * - `deviceNotEligible` - the hardware does not support Apple Intelligence
+ * - `appleIntelligenceNotEnabled` - the user has not turned Apple Intelligence
+ *   on, so they can be pointed at Settings
+ * - `modelNotReady` - Apple Intelligence is on but the model is not downloaded
+ *   yet, so it is worth retrying later
+ * - `unsupportedOS` - the device runs an OS older than iOS 26
+ * - `unknown` - Apple reported a reason this version of the library does not
+ *   know about yet
+ */
+export type AppleAvailability =
+  | 'available'
+  | 'deviceNotEligible'
+  | 'appleIntelligenceNotEnabled'
+  | 'modelNotReady'
+  | 'unsupportedOS'
+  | 'unknown'
+
 export interface AppleGenerationOptions {
   temperature?: number
   maxTokens?: number
@@ -36,6 +57,7 @@ export type StreamErrorEvent = {
 
 export interface Spec extends TurboModule {
   isAvailable(): boolean
+  getAvailability(): AppleAvailability
   countTokens(text: string): Promise<number>
   generateText(
     messages: AppleMessage[],
diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/src/ai-sdk.ts b/packages/apple-llm/src/ai-sdk.ts
index d47e6539..1fcf5d6e 100644
--- a/packages/apple-llm/src/ai-sdk.ts
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/src/ai-sdk.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ export function createAppleProvider({
     return createLanguageModel()
   }
   provider.isAvailable = () => NativeAppleLLM.isAvailable()
+  provider.getAvailability = () => NativeAppleLLM.getAvailability()
   provider.languageModel = createLanguageModel
   provider.textEmbeddingModel = (options: AppleEmbeddingOptions = {}) => {
     return new AppleTextEmbeddingModel(options)
diff --git a/packages/apple-llm/src/index.ts b/packages/apple-llm/src/index.ts
index 0e73c5e5..b42b59a2 100644
--- a/packages/apple-llm/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/apple-llm/src/index.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export { default as AppleFoundationModels } from './AppleFoundationModels'
 export type { AppleLLMError, AppleLLMErrorCode } from './errors'
 export { AppleLLMErrorCodes } from './errors'
 export { default as AppleEmbeddings } from './NativeAppleEmbeddings'
+export type { AppleAvailability } from './NativeAppleLLM'
 export { default as AppleSpeech, VoiceInfo } from './NativeAppleSpeech'
 export { default as AppleTranscription } from './NativeAppleTranscription'
 export { default as AppleUtils } from './NativeAppleUtils'
diff --git a/skills/react-native-ai/references/apple-provider.md b/skills/react-native-ai/references/apple-provider.md
index dbf96554..8f2a6ef8 100644
--- a/skills/react-native-ai/references/apple-provider.md
+++ b/skills/react-native-ai/references/apple-provider.md
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ if (apple.isAvailable()) {
 }
 ```
 
+Use `apple.getAvailability()` when you need to know *why* it is unavailable:
+`'available' | 'deviceNotEligible' | 'appleIntelligenceNotEnabled' |
+'modelNotReady' | 'unsupportedOS' | 'unknown'`. In particular
+`'appleIntelligenceNotEnabled'` is user-fixable, so prompt them to turn Apple
+Intelligence on in Settings instead of showing a generic error.
+
 ### 3. Model Types
 
 | Type          | Method                       | Use Case                                | Documentation                                            |
diff --git a/website/src/docs/apple/generating.md b/website/src/docs/apple/generating.md
index 07fda3c6..e6a1c34b 100644
--- a/website/src/docs/apple/generating.md
+++ b/website/src/docs/apple/generating.md
@@ -203,6 +203,47 @@ if (!apple.isAvailable()) {
 }
 ```
 
+### Availability Status
+
+`isAvailable()` only tells you whether you can generate right now. When it
+returns `false`, use `getAvailability()` to find out why, so you can show the
+user something more useful than a generic error:
+
+```typescript
+import { apple, type AppleAvailability } from '@react-native-ai/apple';
+
+function describeAvailability(status: AppleAvailability) {
+  switch (status) {
+    case 'available':
+      return null;
+    case 'appleIntelligenceNotEnabled':
+      // Actionable: the user can fix this in Settings
+      return 'Turn on Apple Intelligence in Settings to use this feature.';
+    case 'modelNotReady':
+      // Temporary: the model is still downloading, worth retrying later
+      return 'Apple Intelligence is still getting ready. Please try again later.';
+    case 'deviceNotEligible':
+    case 'unsupportedOS':
+    case 'unknown':
+      // Not recoverable on this device: fall back to another provider
+      return null;
+  }
+}
+
+const message = describeAvailability(apple.getAvailability());
+```
+
+| Status                        | Meaning                                                       |
+| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `available`                   | The model is ready to use                                     |
+| `deviceNotEligible`           | The hardware does not support Apple Intelligence              |
+| `appleIntelligenceNotEnabled` | The user has not turned Apple Intelligence on in Settings     |
+| `modelNotReady`               | Apple Intelligence is on, but the model is not downloaded yet |
+| `unsupportedOS`               | The device runs an OS older than iOS 26                       |
+| `unknown`                     | Apple reported a reason this library does not know about yet  |
+
+`isAvailable()` is equivalent to `getAvailability() === 'available'`.
+
 ## Context Window
 
 Apple Foundation Models have a fixed context window of 4096 tokens. This limit applies to the full request context, including system instructions, previous conversation messages, tool definitions, schemas, and the current user prompt.
@@ -454,6 +495,9 @@ import { AppleFoundationModels } from '@react-native-ai/apple'
 // Check if Apple Intelligence is available
 const isAvailable = AppleFoundationModels.isAvailable()
 
+// Or check why it is unavailable
+const availability = AppleFoundationModels.getAvailability()
+
 // Generate text responses
 const messages = [{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello' }]
 const options = { temperature: 0.7, maxTokens: 100 }
diff --git a/website/src/docs/apple/running-on-simulator.md b/website/src/docs/apple/running-on-simulator.md
index cf5b6b2e..c886e566 100644
--- a/website/src/docs/apple/running-on-simulator.md
+++ b/website/src/docs/apple/running-on-simulator.md
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ If Apple Intelligence is enabled but models aren't working:
 - Ensure the model download completed successfully on macOS
 - Restart the iOS Simulator
 - Verify that `apple.isAvailable()` returns `true` in your code (see [Availability Check](./generating#availability-check))
+- If it returns `false`, call `apple.getAvailability()` to see the exact reason (see [Availability Status](./generating#availability-status))
 - Check that your app is running on iOS 26+ in the simulator
 
 ## API Availability