Apple Intelligence Coming to China in December 2026 via iOS 27.3
Apple’s China rollout will use a locally trained model and Alibaba’s Qwen chatbot rather than OpenAI’s ChatGPT. iOS 27.3 beta arrives Nov. 4, with December’s release bringing translation, summaries, writing tools, visual intelligence and photo object removal—but not the new Siri.
Apple announced in October 2026 that it will bring Apple Intelligence to China through iOS 27.3, marking the first time the AI feature set will be available to users in the country. The announcement was made on Apple’s Chinese newsroom website and reported by MacRumors.
A beta version of iOS 27.3 is scheduled to launch on November 4th, with the full public release set for December. The rollout will not include the new Siri AI assistant. Instead, Apple is launching an earlier subset of Apple Intelligence features, including notification summaries, real-time translation, rewriting and proofreading tools, visual intelligence, and the ability to remove objects from photos.
Apple has also partnered with Alibaba to integrate support for its Qwen chatbot into some experiences. Apple described the arrangement as similar to its existing iOS integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which launched in 2024.
The China launch follows regulatory approval of Apple Intelligence in the country in July 2026, which signaled the release was approaching. Reuters reported in August 2026 that Apple trained a separate large language model specifically for the Chinese market.
The availability of Apple Intelligence in China could expand Apple’s AI offerings to one of its most significant markets, where the company had previously been unable to offer these features. The use of a locally trained model and a domestic chatbot partner — Alibaba’s Qwen rather than OpenAI — suggests Apple adapted its approach to meet local requirements.