On October 15, 2026, Tim Cook, Executive Chairman of Apple's Board of Directors, personally confirmed in a media interview in Shanghai a piece of news that Chinese users have been waiting for more than two years. Apple Intelligence has been approved in China and will roll out a beta version in late October. But if you were expecting a brand-new Siri that can chat with you and operate apps on your behalf, you might be disappointed. Cook made it clear that Siri AI is not among the first batch of features.

01 What's Coming First: Translation, Photo Editing, and Writing, Not Siri

The first batch of features includes only three items: real-time translation, a photo cleanup tool, and a writing tool. While they are not Siri AI, they are likely to be used daily. When dining abroad and reading menus, long-press to translate; if unwanted passersby appear in your travel photos, circle them to remove; for writing weekly reports or revising copy, directly use the system-level writing tool. For ordinary iPhone users, these features are far more practical than having Hey Siri tell a bad joke.

02 Powered by a Chinese Brain

The Chinese version of Apple Intelligence takes a path never taken by Apple globally, combining Apple's system layer with Alibaba's large model. According to the network access license information from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, on September 29, devices such as the iPhone 15 Pro and subsequent models, as well as the iPhone Duo, completed license renewal and added filing (filing) numbers for three large models: Apple Intelligence, Tongyi Wanxiang, and Tongyi Qianwen.

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The division of labor among these three is clear: Tongyi Qianwen handles text understanding, writing, and Q&A; Tongyi Wanxiang is responsible for image and multimodal generation; Baidu handles the localized adaptation of Siri's voice assistant and visual intelligence. Data remains within the country, following regulatory-approved pathways. This marks the first time Apple has integrated native AI capabilities with a third-party large model, indicating that Apple is beginning to modify its foundation for a single market.

03 Why Siri AI Cannot Be Introduced Simultaneously

The overseas version of Siri AI is rebuilt based on Google Gemini, involving conversational memory, cross-app execution, and cloud collaboration. Bringing this capability to China faces two major obstacles: compliance and user experience. Bloomberg reported that due to local regulatory requirements, the new generation of Siri AI based on Google Gemini will not be launched in mainland China, and image generation features like Image Playground will also be temporarily unavailable.

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Cook's wording in the interview was cautious: 'We are delighted that the first batch of core Apple Intelligence features can gradually roll out.' Apple's AI credibility is facing a critical test in the Chinese market. It has arrived more than two years late, facing a market already filled with local AI offerings from Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, as well as Doubao, DeepSeek, and others.

04 What Does This Mean for Chinese Users?

For many Chinese users, you will no longer have to watch overseas users enjoy Genmoji, write AI emails, or one-click remove passersby from photos while you can only stare helplessly. However, the current filing and adaptation efforts are focused on devices like the iPhone 15 Pro and subsequent Pro/new models, as well as the iPhone Duo. Whether older standard models will be supported awaits Apple's update instructions. Additionally, Apple AI in China is taking a customized route.

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What you get is not the globally unified Apple Intelligence but a hybrid of Apple's system shell and Alibaba's model core. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as localized adaptation may better understand the Chinese language context. However, it also means that Apple's competitiveness in China's AI smartphone market is no longer solely determined by Apple itself. Cook said Apple will continue to independently advance its internal AI models. But two years from now, when Chinese users ask a complex question on their phones, the question of whose 'brain' is answering may be more noteworthy than whether AI is available at all. #Apple #AppleAI