Apple Intelligence registered in China for use on iPads and Macs

Apple’s AI service, Apple Intelligence, has been cleared for use on tablets and laptops in China. The cyberspace regulator in Shanghai made the change on Monday, Reuters reported .

The regulator said Apple’s iPads and Mac laptops had been added as two new uses in the service’s filing. It made the change under China’s rules for AI services.

In China, firms must register AI models and chatbot-style services with the state before they can offer them to the public.

Apple Intelligence first won approval for use on iPhones in China in mid-July . At the time, Alibaba said its Qwen AI model would power the service on Apple’s devices in China. Baidu is also a tech partner , Bloomberg reported.

“Qwen will be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences within iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for users in China,” an Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC in July.

Apple first showed Apple Intelligence in 2024 and began rolling it out in other markets later that year, with iOS 18. China has waited much longer.

Apple needs local partners in China. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which runs some Apple Intelligence tools in other countries, is not offered there.

On 31 October, Apple said on its China news site that the first features would come with iOS 27.3. A test version for app makers went live on 4 November. The full release is due in December.

In China, Qwen will run Siri, Writing Tools, and visual intelligence, which lets users ask about what the camera sees. But Siri AI and other tools Apple showed off at its June developer event are not part of the launch.

Apple’s October news listed only iPhones. These are the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, the iPhone Air, the iPhone Duo, and every model from the iPhone 16 on. Siri and the phone must be set to English or Simplified Chinese.

Reuters also reported in August that Apple had built its own AI model just for China with Alibaba’s help . That was a shift from its plan to rely only on outside models in the country.

Apple did not say on Monday when the features will reach iPads and Macs in China.