Apple confirms iOS 27.3 beta is coming next week with Apple Intelligence in China

Apple has officially announced the upcoming release of iOS 27.3 beta next week, alongside the introduction of Apple Intelligence in China. Following a series of regulatory hurdles and delays, Apple Intelligence has finally obtained the necessary approvals for its launch in the country. Initially reported by Reuters and Bloomberg, Apple had planned to introduce Apple Intelligence in China as part of iOS 27.3, although Siri AI and other advanced features were not initially included.

Chinese state media outlet The Paper had previously reported that Apple's Tim Cook confirmed regulatory approval, with a test version anticipated before the end of October. On Monday, Apple unveiled iOS 27.2 and its language support enhancements, adding seven new languages including Traditional Chinese. However, without providing any updates on the China launch, Apple's next developer beta remains absent.

According to a press release on Apple’s Chinese Newsroom website, testing of Apple Intelligence in China will commence on November 4, marking the beginning of its integration into the upcoming iOS 27.3 beta. Apple has clarified that this will not necessarily coincide with the official release of iOS 27.3 beta 1. Users in China will benefit from an enhanced Siri experience, including Type to Siri and the ability to utilize Alibaba's Qwen for specific tasks, although Siri AI will not be accessible.

Qwen integration will extend to Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence, allowing users to ask questions about photos, documents, and generate content through Writing Tools. Qwen can be accessed by signing in or using Sign in with Apple. Other features included in the initial rollout are Live Translation across various Apple services, face recognition improvements, Writing Tools, Genmoji, Photo Clean Up, natural-language searches, priority notifications, notification summaries, and Smart Reply.

These initial features are exclusively available on iPhone devices, with support for additional platforms contingent upon further regulatory approvals.

The rollout will be available on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone 16 and later models, iPhone Air, and iPhone Duo, provided that users have Siri and device language set to either English or Simplified Chinese. Apple has confirmed that these features will become publicly available in December, coinciding with the official release of iOS 27.3. For more details, Apple's press release is available at the provided link.