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More than two years after its launch in the US, Apple Intelligence is set to arrive in China in December. However, the new Siri AI will not be available there, nor will some of its other features. This means the assistant will be missing from a second major market.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple plans to activate Apple Intelligence in China in December with iOS 27.3. Bloomberg cites sources familiar with the plans. Siri AI and other features announced this year are expected to be missing at launch.
The road to get there was long. In July, the Chinese internet regulator registered Apple's device-side AI service, but a launch date was not given at the time.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Apple Intelligence is scheduled to launch in China in December with iOS 27.3.
- Features at launch include Genmoji, message summaries, writing tools, and the cleanup tool in photos.
- Siri AI, Apple's own image generation, and other new features are missing.
- The language models come from Alibaba; according to the report, Baidu is only involved in search and Siri.
What's included at the start and what's missing
According to Bloomberg, the launch in China includes Genmoji, message summaries, the writing tools, and the cleanup tool in Photos. Apple's own image creation tools are not included, and text functionality is said to be limited in some apps.
Alibaba is providing the models, including the Qwen language model and the Tongyi Wanxiang image model. According to Bloomberg, Alibaba is also providing the safeguards, including a filter that allows the government to approve ongoing updates to the models. Baidu, the report states, is only working on search and Siri functionality.
The approvals have now been granted
According to Bloomberg, Apple received approval for newer iPhones on September 29. The South China Morning Post also reports that the updated network approvals from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and several older models now list three AI systems: Apple Intelligence, Qwen, and Tongyi Wanxiang.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| March 31, 2026 | Apple Intelligence briefly appears in China without authorization |
| July 2026 | Registration by the internet supervisory authority |
| August 2026 | Report on a model trained jointly with Alibaba |
| September 29, 2026 | Approvals for newer iPhones, according to Bloomberg |
| December 2026 | Planned launch with iOS 27.3 |
Bloomberg is one of the best-connected sources regarding Apple's plans, but the report is based on sources close to the company and not on an official announcement. The regulatory approvals granted, however, are supported by a second, independent report.
Two markets without Siri AI on the iPhone
I find this report particularly noteworthy because it means Apple Intelligence is running in two major markets without the new assistant on the iPhone. Siri AI is based on a modified Gemini model from Google, and Google services are not available in China. A model that became public in August, which Apple reportedly trained for China in collaboration with Alibaba, apparently does not yet replace it.
Siri AI is missing on iPhones and iPads in the EU for other reasons; Apple cites the Device Management Agreement (DMA) as the reason. Currently, the rollout on EU iPhones is expected to take months. This does not affect Switzerland, as the DMA does not apply there. In Germany and Austria, the other Apple Intelligence features function as usual; only Siri AI is missing on the iPhone, just as it is expected to be in China starting in December.
Do you think Siri AI will arrive in China first or on iPhones in the EU first? Let us know your prediction in the comments.
