The Canada Brief

Tech · 4 d ago

Apple Park, Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California

Daniel L. Lu (user:dllu) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Apple sets dates for Apple Intelligence in China, with Alibaba's Qwen built in

Nov

4

Wednesday

China, developer beta

The first features arrive in developer betas on Nov 4. Chinese users get them in December with the release of iOS 27.3.

The first batch includes live translation, writing tools, notification summaries, an object-removal tool in Photos and a redesigned Siri. Alibaba's Qwen handles requests Siri cannot, and powers a text-writing option and visual search.

What we know

  • Apple's own models run the features
  • Qwen is an optional extension
  • Only iPhones are covered at first

Not yet

  • No date for Siri AI in China
  • No date for iPad and Mac support

Apple's own generative models run the features, with Qwen as an optional add-on, and only iPhones are covered at first. The release leaves out the new Siri AI and other next-generation features announced at WWDC 2026.