Apple confirms Apple Intelligence for China: open beta from November 4, full rollout with iOS 27.3 in December, Siri AI not in this wave

Apple confirmed on October 31 that Apple Intelligence is finally coming to China. According to AppleInsider, citing Apple's China newsroom, the first core features will be available as an open beta in China from November 4, with the developer beta starting the same day and a full rollout with iOS 27.3 in December. That is two years after the feature first launched in many other territories in 2024.

First features: photos, Visual Intelligence, writing and summaries

The first wave covers everyday use cases: in Photos, Clean Up to remove unwanted items from images, memory videos and natural-language search; Visual Intelligence using the iPhone camera and smart emoji generation are also included. Writing tools can proofread, rewrite and summarize text, while notification summaries, email summaries and Smart Reply quick responses arrive alongside them; Notes gains audio transcription, and calls can be transcribed and summarized.

No Siri AI this time; Alibaba work continues

One limit matters: this wave stops short of Siri AI, which only became available to users in other countries in 2026, according to the report. In its announcement, Apple says it uses generative models built by Apple, and is also working with Alibaba to add Qianwen support within Siri. Apple gave no timetable in this round for when Siri AI will arrive in China.

Why it took two years: regulation and local partners

Apple Intelligence was held back in China by regulatory requirements: Apple had to find local partners with approved models it could use for the same services. After the two-year wait, iPhone users in China will finally be able to use these AI features on their devices; for Apple, it is also an important piece of its second-largest market — how well the features work, and how the beta performs, will become clear after November 4.