First batch of Apple Intelligence features launches in China: AirPods support real-time translation, iPhone can call Qwen

Summary of the first batch of core features launched for Apple Intelligence in mainland China: AirPods real-time translation debuts, iPhone can team up with Qwen to achieve more functions

2026-11-04 04:31 IT Home - Guilong

IT Home, November 4 news: Apple pushed the first iOS 27.3 developer preview to iPhone in the early hours of this morning, bringing "Apple Intelligence & Siri" to mainland China users as promised.

IT Home experienced the first batch of core features launched for Apple Intelligence in mainland China at the first opportunity, and is now summarizing the highlights for everyone as follows:

New Siri invocation light effect

The most noticeable change is that when you press and hold the power button to invoke Siri, a ring of marquee light effects appears on the screen.

Real-time translation

The real-time translation feature has been integrated into Messages, FaceTime calls, and the Phone app, allowing users to get translation experience in call and messaging scenarios. At the same time, in face-to-face communication scenarios, real-time translation will also extend to AirPods (requires the latest firmware and pairing with an iPhone with Apple Intelligence enabled). After wearing compatible earphones, users can get real-time translation capabilities in cross-language communication.

This feature has clear device requirements: users need to use iPhone 16 and later models, iPhone Duo, iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone Air, and set Siri and device language to English or Simplified Chinese. AirPods models that support real-time translation include: AirPods 5, AirPods 4 (with Active Noise Cancellation), AirPods Pro 2 and later models, and AirPods Max 2.

Visual Intelligence supports instantly understanding surrounding objects and places through the iPhone camera. Press and hold the iPhone side Camera Control button to invoke Visual Intelligence, which supports two core functions: Ask and Search. Among them, the Ask function connects to Qwen, and the Search function connects to Baidu Image Search.

Users can also set Accessibility Live Recognition as a quick launch in "Settings - Camera - Camera Control - Launch Camera," supporting real-time voice announcements and providing functions such as Scene, Point and Speak, Text, and Document Capture.

Image eraser tool

The Photos app now comes with an eraser tool. Users can tap, brush, or circle the object to be removed to remove distracting objects. When using this feature for the first time, a feature plug-in needs to be downloaded.

▲ Try to find the differences in the image

Image Playground emoji

The Image Playground emoji feature has launched in apps such as Messages, supporting ever-changing mix-and-match and personalized smart drawing, and smart emoji can be used like emoji. Users can select multiple emoji in Image Playground emoji for mix-and-match generation, or generate them through text descriptions.

Notifications

The notification summary feature has also landed on mainland China iPhones, supporting the use of Apple Intelligence to generate content summaries for received notifications, making it easy to quickly scan notifications. It provides three major categories: News & Entertainment, Communication & Social, and All Other Apps. Priority Notifications will place the most urgent matters at the top of notifications, letting users immediately see matters that may require attention.

Qwen

In addition, in "Apple Intelligence & Siri," you can see the "Qwen" extension. iPhone can use Qwen to help write text, create images, and answer questions. When using it for the first time, you need to log in to a Qwen account.

After enabling Qwen, you can ask Qwen to create text in the text box (available in third-party apps such as WeChat). Say your needs, and a whole paragraph of dialogue can be generated.