Apple Intelligence Is Coming to China With iOS 27.3, Backed by Alibaba
After more than two years of waiting, Apple says Apple Intelligence will reach iPhone users in China in December, with Alibaba's Qwen model powering parts of Siri.
· 1 min read
On October 31, Apple announced that the first Apple Intelligence features will reach iPhone users in mainland China with the iOS 27.3 update in December. It ends more than two years of regulatory uncertainty in Apple's second-largest market.
Testing starts November 4
Developers can try the features in the latest iOS developer beta starting November 4, and the public rollout follows with iOS 27.3. Apple hasn't named an exact date in December yet.
Alibaba inside Siri
Apple says its own models are the foundation of Apple Intelligence, but Alibaba's Qwen model will be used in parts of Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence. It's the first time Apple has relied on a non-US foundation model.
Which iPhones are supported?
- iPhone 16 and every later model
- iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone Air and iPhone Duo
The iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus and older models are not included.
What's missing from this release?
The new Siri AI assistant Apple showed at WWDC 2026 is not part of this launch. China gets the first wave of Apple Intelligence features instead, such as Writing Tools, notification summaries and removing objects from photos. There is also no timeline yet for iPad and Mac.
Our take
This move shows Apple has to adapt to local rules to stay in the Chinese market, even if that means relying on models from Chinese companies. But after two years of waiting and without Siri AI, Apple is still behind Chinese brands that have shipped AI in their phones for a while.
Azad Khorsheed is a software developer and project manager based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He builds web and mobile systems with Laravel and React, with a focus on Arabic and Kurdish (RTL) interfaces. Here he writes about programming and lessons from real-world projects.
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