Apple Intelligence to launch in China with iOS 27.3 beta on November 4

Apple will launch Apple Intelligence in China with iOS 27.3, the company announced on its Chinese newsroom website, as reported by MacRumors. The first availability will come through an iOS 27.3 beta set to launch on November 4, with a full iOS 27.3 release scheduled for December. The launch does not bring the new Siri AI to China; instead, it includes several earlier Apple Intelligence features.

Features and partnerships

The initial features include notification summaries, real-time translation, rewriting and proofreading tools, visual intelligence, and removing objects from photos. Apple also says it has worked with Alibaba to add support for its Qwen chatbot in some experiences, which sounds similar to iOS's integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT that launched in 2024. Apple Intelligence was approved in China in July, which signalled that the launch of the AI tools was getting near. Apple trained its own LLM specifically for China, Reuters reported in August.

Availability

The beta is set to launch on November 4, and the full iOS 27.3 release is scheduled for December. Apple did not announce the new Siri AI for China as part of this launch.

Earlier coverage: Apple Intelligence will launch in China in December via iOS 27.3

Sources: The Verge