China Approves Apple Intelligence for iPads and Macs

BEIJING: China has registered Apple Intelligence for use on tablets and laptops. Shanghai’s cyberspace regulator announced this on Monday, November 9.

Reports say the filing adds two new uses to the service: Apple’s tablets and laptops. That means iPads and Macs.

Why the registration matters

China requires firms to register large language models and generative AI services before offering them to the public. Without this step, Apple cannot launch the service legally.

Apple got the same approval for iPhones in July. China’s Cyberspace Administration listed Apple Intelligence among seven phone AI services that completed filing. Apple’s own filing passed on July 8, according to Chinese media reports.

Alibaba’s Qwen will power the service

Apple trained a large language model for the Chinese market with Alibaba’s help, Reuters reported in August. Before that, Apple relied on third-party models for AI features in the country.

Alibaba says Chinese users will get text and image understanding and content generation from its Qwen model. They will reach it through Siri, writing tools and visual intelligence.

An unnamed source told Reuters in July that Baidu would also supply models. Alibaba has not confirmed that part.