Apple sets China launch for Apple Intelligence with iOS 27.3

Apple will open its first set of Apple Intelligence features in China to developers on November 4, with a user release scheduled for December as part of iOS 27.3. The rollout is initially limited to supported iPhones; Apple says support for its other platforms will follow after it receives the required approvals.

The release will give users access to Live Translation, Writing Tools, visual intelligence, photo cleanup and Genmoji, along with natural-language photo search and automatic creation of memory movies. Mail features include priority messages, summaries and Smart Reply, while the notification tools include summaries, priority notifications and the Reduce Interruptions Focus mode. Apple is also adding summaries of audio transcriptions in Notes and of call transcripts.

Apple has partnered with Alibaba to add Qwen support to selected Apple Intelligence experiences. For certain requests, users will be able to access Qwen through Siri, Writing Tools and visual intelligence for text and image understanding. They can ask questions about photos and documents, including PDFs and presentations, or use Qwen to create original content from within Writing Tools. Access will require either a Qwen account or Sign in with Apple.

The Qwen integration does not mean that Siri AI is arriving in China. Apple explicitly says the December update excludes Siri AI and the other next-generation Apple Intelligence features it announced at WWDC 2026. The Siri functions included in this release are narrower: users can type requests, speak less precisely and maintain context across a conversation, with Qwen available for some queries.

By contrast, Apple describes Siri AI as a new version of the assistant that can understand personal context, answer questions about on-screen content, search across apps and take actions across them. Apple said in June that Siri AI and its other new Apple Intelligence features were not available in mainland China.

The initial China release supports iPhone 16 and later, iPhone Duo, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone Air. Both Siri and the device language must be set to English or Simplified Chinese.

Live Translation through AirPods requires current firmware and pairing with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Apple lists AirPods 5, AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, AirPods Pro 2 or later, and AirPods Max 2 as compatible models. Apple has not provided an exact December release date for iOS 27.3 or a timetable for approvals covering its other platforms.