Apple is preparing to bring Apple Intelligence to mainland China in December, potentially ending a delay that has kept the company’s AI features out of one of its most important markets for more than two years.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is planning to launch its first Apple Intelligence features in the country as part of iOS 27.3. The rollout would mark a major step for Apple in China, where regulatory requirements have prevented the company from offering the same AI experience already available across many other markets.
The initial launch is expected to be deliberately limited. Apple reportedly plans to bring over several of the original Apple Intelligence capabilities first introduced in 2024, including Writing Tools, notification summaries, Genmoji and the Clean Up feature in Photos. However, the newer Siri AI experience introduced with iOS 27 is not expected to be included.
Apple’s own image-generation tools are also expected to remain unavailable, while some text-generation capabilities could be restricted in certain apps. That means customers in China may receive a noticeably different version of Apple Intelligence from the experience available elsewhere.
The rollout has required Apple to take a different technical approach to comply with Chinese regulations. Bloomberg reports that Apple has worked with Alibaba on safeguards for its AI system, including a filtering mechanism designed around local requirements, while Baidu is involved in areas including search and Siri.
A separate South China Morning Post report says updated network access permits from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology now list Apple Intelligence alongside Alibaba’s Qwen and Tongyi Wanxiang models for devices including the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and several earlier iPhones. The approvals remove a major obstacle that had prevented Apple from launching the service publicly.
Apple has been trying to bring Apple Intelligence to China since the platform was first introduced in 2024. Earlier launch targets reportedly slipped repeatedly as the company worked through regulatory approval, local model requirements and the restrictions placed on foreign-developed generative AI services.
The absence of Apple Intelligence has become increasingly important for Apple as Chinese smartphone makers continue to push AI deeper into their devices. Rivals including Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo already offer extensive generative AI features, leaving Apple without one of the headline capabilities it promotes elsewhere around the world.
The December rollout could therefore be significant even if it launches with a more limited feature set. Bringing Writing Tools, notification summaries and other everyday Apple Intelligence features to Chinese iPhone users would close part of the gap, while giving Apple a foundation it could expand if further approvals are secured.
What remains unclear is when — or whether — the full Siri AI experience will become available in mainland China. Apple introduced the rebuilt assistant this year with conversational responses, personal context, onscreen awareness and broader world knowledge, but the company has continued to acknowledge regional restrictions around its newest AI features.
Apple previously confirmed that Apple Intelligence and Siri AI were unavailable in China while it worked through regulatory requirements. The company has not publicly announced a December launch date, meaning the reported iOS 27.3 rollout could still change before release.
The Apple Post has previously detailed everything users need to know about Apple Intelligence, while our guide to iOS 27 features that are still unavailable explains how regional restrictions continue to affect Apple’s latest software.