Apple plans to roll out its first AI features in China in December. That ends a wait that has stretched since Apple Intelligence first arrived in the US in 2024.
China is one of Apple’s most important markets, and local rivals have spent that gap shipping phones with AI baked in. Apple, meanwhile, has been selling iPhones there with one of their headline features switched off.
How Apple got through the gate
The first major hurdle fell on July 15, 2026. That day, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) registered Apple’s generative AI service. Apple was the only foreign entry on that approval list.
CAC registration is effectively a license to operate. Without it, a generative AI product can’t legally serve the public in mainland China.
The second piece came on October 14, 2026. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) updated network-access permits to include Apple Intelligence models. Those permits cover the upcoming iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro.
Apple’s models weren’t listed alone. The same permits named Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen, better known as Qwen, and its Tongyi Wanxiang AI models.
That pairing is no coincidence. Apple has partnered with Alibaba for language models and with Baidu for search and visual features.
Even with those approvals in hand, the feature was still unavailable on mainland China devices as of October 14, 2026. The planned December debut would be the first time Chinese users actually get to use it.
Two years is a long time in smartphones
Apple Intelligence, including an upgraded Siri, launched in the US in 2024. Since then, Chinese iPhone buyers have watched the rest of the world get features they couldn’t access.
In the second quarter, Apple’s shipments in China rose 24.4% year-over-year. That made it the country’s number two smartphone seller, behind only Huawei.
What this means for Apple and its rivals
The MIIT permits specifically list the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro, which suggests a potential launch tied to Apple’s next devices.
Apple was the lone foreign name on the CAC’s July approval list. That shows a foreign company can clear China’s AI rules, provided it works through domestic partners and the full regulatory process.
The partnership model also carries trade-offs. Relying on Alibaba for language models and Baidu for search and visual tools means Apple’s China experience will differ from what users get elsewhere.
For Alibaba and Baidu, the arrangement is a quiet win. Their technology gets distribution through one of the most popular phone brands in China, under Apple’s polished interface.
Key things to watch between now and December: whether Apple confirms the exact rollout timing, which features make the cut for the Chinese version, and how the launch lines up with the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.