First batch of Apple Intelligence features for mainland China opens for testing in iOS 27.3 developer preview

Nov 4

1. 22:49

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2. 20:49

   36Kr · AI

   Why I'm Not Optimistic About Apple's China AI: Qwen Base Model and iOS Ecosystem Adaptation Challenges

   Apple's China AI opened developer Beta testing to users in mainland China in the early hours of November 4, and is expected to launch with the official release of iOS 27.3 in December. The base model uses Apple's local model plus Alibaba's Qwen. The author is not optimistic about its prospects, believing that Apple AI will struggle to fully adapt to the domestic third-party app ecosystem, and that first-party iOS apps have insufficient usage in China, so the efficiency of the local model plus third-party model approach remains to be seen.

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3. 20:09

   The Beijing News

   Apple's Isabel Ge Mahe: AI will not replace apps; it will make the next generation of apps more powerful

   Isabel Ge Mahe, Apple's vice president and managing director of Greater China, said at the Artificial Intelligence Technology Innovation and Governance Forum of the 2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit that Apple firmly believes AI will not replace apps; instead, it will make the next generation of apps more powerful and more personalized. She noted that last year, developer billings and sales facilitated by China's App Store ecosystem reached $562 billion, up $23 billion from the previous year, with three-quarters of Chinese developers' businesses having expanded overseas and overseas revenue accounting for more than 50%. On the same day, Apple released the iOS 27.3 Beta, with Apple Intelligence opening to users in China, allowing Qwen's text and image understanding and content generation capabilities to be invoked in Siri, Writing Tools, and Visual Intelligence.

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4. 17:11

   Jiguo

   Hands-on with 7 Apple Intelligence features in China: Siri connects to Qwen

   Jiguo tested the first batch of Apple Intelligence features in China released with the iOS 27.3 developer Beta. Real-time translation, summaries, and photo cleanup are provided by Apple's local models, while Siri, Writing Tools, and Visual Intelligence can call on Qwen. The author's tests found that Siri can hand off questions it cannot answer to Qwen and give the answer in the dialog box; Writing Tools can proofread and rewrite and supports input fields such as WeChat; real-time translation through earbuds works fairly well. However, photo cleanup stutters and crashes on complex cutouts, notification summaries failed to trigger multiple times, and Siri also cannot call the Qwen app to hand off tasks. The author believes the current version is more like a half-finished product, and users of primary phones are advised to wait for the official release.

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5. 17:11

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6. 15:38

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   Mainland China Apple Intelligence and Siri Launch with iOS 27.3 Developer Preview

   Apple has released the iOS 27.3 developer preview, and "Apple Intelligence and Siri" for Mainland China has arrived as expected. After upgrading, users of iPhone 15 Pro and later models can find the feature page in Settings. The first batch of available features focuses on basic, high-frequency scenarios, including real-time translation in Messages, FaceTime calls, and the Phone app; rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing in Writing Tools; visual intelligence recognition via the camera; and the Clean Up tool in the Photos app. The Mainland China version is a collaboration with Alibaba. Users can invoke Qwen in Siri, Writing Tools, and Visual Intelligence. By logging in to a Qwen account or using "Sign in with Apple," they can access it within the system without jumping to a standalone app.

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7. 15:38

   IT Home · AIRelated discussion

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8. 15:38

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

   Apple is pushing the first iOS 27.3 developer preview to iPhone, bringing Apple Intelligence and Siri to users in China. The first batch of features includes Siri invocation light effects, real-time translation, Visual Intelligence, photo eraser, Genmoji, and notification summaries. Real-time translation has been integrated into Messages, FaceTime calls, and the Phone app, and extended to AirPods, requiring designated devices such as iPhone 16 and later models. The Ask feature of Visual Intelligence connects to Qwen, and the search feature connects to Baidu Image Search. Users can also enable the Qwen extension in "Apple Intelligence & Siri" to compose text, create images, and answer questions.

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9. 10:41

   Minority

   Hands-on with Apple Intelligence in China: Writing Tools, Visual Intelligence, and Live Translation Tested

   A Minority author tested Apple Intelligence in China on the iOS 27.3 developer preview. The first batch of features includes Writing Tools, photo cleanup, Live Translation, and Visual Intelligence, with Siri connected to Qwen to handle requests that the on-device model cannot complete. In testing, Live Translation could convey most of the conversation content, but the translations were rather stiff; photo cleanup easily gave itself away against complex backgrounds, and the accuracy of natural-language image search also fell short of expectations. The author believes this update is more about filling the gap of Apple devices lacking AI, and that it is still a long way from being good to use.

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