Apple plans to bring Apple Intelligence to mainland China in December, according to a Bloomberg report published October 14. The first launch would arrive in an iOS 27.3 update and leave out Siri AI, the assistant Apple announced this year. Apple has not confirmed the date or the update number.
Apple Intelligence has not been available in mainland China since it launched in 2024.
The launch would leave out Siri AI and image generation
The report says the first set would include Genmoji, AI notification summaries, Writing Tools, and the Clean Up tool in Photos. Text generation would be limited in some apps. Image Playground and the newer version of Genmoji would be left out, along with Siri AI.
Apple’s October Apple TV 4K announcement says Siri AI is still in beta and launches in English in eight countries and regions. It is not initially available in the EU on iOS or iPadOS.
These are mostly features Apple first introduced in 2024. References in macOS 26.7 code had already pointed to Writing Tools coming to China with content restrictions, but that was code, not an announcement.
Alibaba supplies the models, with a government filter
Alibaba confirmed in July that its Qwen model will power Apple Intelligence features for Chinese users. It gave no timeframe. The report names Qwen and Tongyi Wanxiang as the models, and says the setup includes guardrails, including a filter that lets the government approve ongoing model updates.
Reuters reported in August, citing three anonymous sources, that Apple trained a China-specific AI model with Alibaba’s help.
TechCrunch reported in July that a Baidu spokesperson confirmed the work, but a Reuters-based report says Baidu made no on-record statement. Bloomberg says the work covers search and Siri-related features.
China’s regulator listed Apple’s service in July
On July 15, the Cyberspace Administration of China published a notice listing seven phone on-device generative AI services with completed filings. Apple’s service appears on the list as “Apple智能.” Media called it approval, but the notice is a filing record and gives no launch date.
Permit records for newer iPhones, including the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro, reportedly list the Alibaba models.
Apple has not confirmed a date yet
Apple made no announcement in late March, when Apple Intelligence briefly appeared for some iPhone users in mainland China before the update was pulled. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said the rollout was accidental.
Apple has still not announced a China date or commented publicly on the report. Its Apple Intelligence availability page says new Apple Intelligence features will not be available in China while Apple works through regulatory requirements.
The same page says that once Apple Intelligence reaches mainland China, devices bought earlier that support it will be able to switch on a core set of features there. Until Apple names a date, December rests on sources. The reports also do not explain why Siri AI is left out.
