Chinese iPhone users were in for a surprise on Monday as many of them took to social media to share their amazement at receiving the Apple Intelligence update without any prior notice. Notably, China is the only Apple market yet to receive the Apple Intelligence update, which first arrived with the iOS 18.1 update in October 2024.
The surprise update seemed to end the wait for many Chinese users as social media quickly flooded with posts about receiving Apple Intelligence, which appeared to have arrived with the iOS 26.4 rollout.
However, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has confirmed that the rollout of Apple Intelligence in China was an ‘error’ and Apple has pulled it offline. The Cupertino-based tech giant reportedly does not have the regulatory approval for rolling out its AI features yet. The company also reportedly has no imminent launch timeline, meaning the Apple Intelligence update would not be arriving with iOS 26.5 either.
Gurman also pointed out a few signs that suggest the update was a mistake. He notes that Apple wouldn’t launch AI in its most important market without an official announcement. Moreover, the company would also not launch the AI update in China when it is the middle of the night there.
Why is Apple Intelligence not present in China?
Notably, the Chinese government requires Apple to partner with local AI providers in order to roll out its AI features so as to comply with the country’s laws.
Apple Intelligence also uses Google for its ‘Visual Intelligence’ features and, since Google is banned in China, the company will also have to depend on a local provider to bypass the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and get the necessary approvals for the rollout.
Apple is yet to officially comment on the Apple Intelligence rollout in China or the lack thereof. The company did, however, release its iOS 26.5 developer beta update on Monday, which brought a few new features, but there are still no signs of the new AI features that it had promised for Siri more than a year ago.
An earlier report by Gurman had suggested that Apple could be planning its major AI features for Siri in the iOS 27 update. The latest version of iOS is set to be unveiled at the WWDC 2026 event in early June and will subsequently be rolled out with the latest iPhone launches in September.
The company is said to be working on making Siri a system-wide AI agent in iOS 27 by giving it the ability to complete tasks within apps, access news, and even search the web.
Apple is also said to be working on a chatbot-like app for Siri with the ability to remember past conversations and upload files like images and documents. The latest version of Siri will be powered by a custom Gemini model, but it is not clear how these features would work in China.
