Apple Intelligence Registers for iPad and Mac in China

Shanghai’s cyberspace regulator announced on Monday that Apple Intelligence “has been registered for use on tablets and laptops in China,” Reuters reported. China requires generative AI services to complete a regulatory registration before they can launch publicly. The registration covers tablet and laptop devices, which means Apple has cleared a regulatory step for bringing Apple Intelligence to iPads and Macs in China. Apple Intelligence had already been approved for iPhones in China in July, after months of discussions and delays with regulators.

Apple said in a late October press release on its Chinese Newsroom website that Apple Intelligence will launch in China in December with iOS 27.3. In that announcement, the company said only iPhones would be in the first wave, and that other devices were still waiting for regulatory approval. The release did not mention iPadOS or macOS as part of the initial China launch. A few days later, Apple released the first iOS 27.3 developer beta, which let people in China try the features before the public rollout.

Monday’s registration extends the July iPhone approval to tablets and laptops. Apple has not said whether iPads and Macs will get the features in December. The company also has not said whether the iPad and Mac rollout will coincide with the iPhone launch in December.

For the Chinese market, Apple Intelligence uses Alibaba’s Qwen model for some AI capabilities. MacDailyNews reported that Apple built a China-specific large language model with help from Alibaba. Alibaba said the Qwen model will handle text and image understanding and content creation in Siri, writing tools and visual intelligence on iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS. That means the Qwen-powered features are designed to work across Apple’s platforms, but the timing for iPad and Mac support remains open. Apple has not confirmed timing for iPad and Mac support beyond the registration.