Apple plans December AI launch in China, Bloomberg says

Apple ↗ 0.43% plans to launch Apple Intelligence in mainland China in December as part of its iOS 27.3 update, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Regulatory delays have kept the company's AI features out of one of its most important markets for about two years. Chinese users will get a limited version: the features Apple first released in the US in 2024, but not the rebuilt Siri AI assistant or anything Apple announced this year.bloomberg.com

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment, according to Bloomberg. Apple's support page still says Apple Intelligence "will not currently work" on devices bought in mainland China. It also says that once the service is available, eligible devices will be able to use a "core set" of features, while new features stay unavailable "while Apple works through regulatory requirements."macrumors.com+1

What Chinese users will get

The China launch will include Genmoji, notification summaries, writing tools and the option to remove objects from photos, Bloomberg reported. To meet local rules, it will leave out Apple's in-house image-generation tools, including Image Playground, and limit some text generation in certain apps. Newer features will also be missing, including Siri AI (rebuilt on Google Gemini models), photo expansion, the upgraded Genmoji and visual intelligence in the camera. According to Bloomberg, Apple executives are not optimistic that Siri AI will reach China anytime soon.bloomberg.com

To win approval, Apple had to make concessions. It built guardrails with Alibaba ↘ 1.82%, including a filter that lets the Chinese government approve ongoing updates to the AI models, and it is working with Baidu ↘ 2.93% on search and Siri features.9to5mac.com

A long approval process

Apple once expected to launch in China in May 2025. That target slipped to the end of 2025 and then to spring 2026, while the Chinese government's approval process left the company waiting, Bloomberg said. In July, the Cyberspace Administration of China added Apple's generative AI to its list of approved providers, and both Alibaba and Baidu confirmed they were part of the launch. On Sept. 29, Apple received permits that let recent iPhones use Alibaba's Qwen and Tongyi Wanxiang models. Apple has also held more talks with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology about clearance for a consumer launch. In September, Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook attended a White House state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping.macrumors.com+2

Competitive questions

Rival phones from Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo already offer a growing range of AI services, so it is unclear how much Apple will gain from launching a two-year-old set of relatively basic features, Bloomberg noted. When those features first came out, many were criticized for not working properly. Apple also still lacks approval for Siri AI in the European Union, and it remains unclear if or when that will come.bloomberg.com