Apple Intelligence briefly appeared for some iPhone users in China before Apple pulled it back, and the incident now looks like an accidental rollout rather than the official launch many users had expected.
The sudden appearance of AI features in Settings led to quick speculation that Apple had finally completed its long-delayed China expansion, but that is no longer the case, because the company still does not have the regulatory approval it needs to launch the service there.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple enabled the features in error and then took them offline after users in China started seeing them on their devices.
“Apple Intelligence launched in China in error – it’s been ready to go for months but Apple doesn’t yet have regulatory approval. There’s no imminent launch and this isn’t tied to the iOS 26.5 beta. Apple has pulled it offline.” – Mark Gurman
The rollout drew attention because China has remained the last major market without Apple Intelligence, even after Apple began launching the feature in other regions starting in October 2024. For users in China, the sudden appearance of these tools made it look like Apple’s global rollout was finally reaching the finish line, especially since reports suggested access was showing up on iPhones running iOS 26.4.
That said, the launch is still blocked by China’s approval process. Apple needs clearance from the Cyberspace Administration of China before it can officially offer AI features in the country, and that process has taken time.
Apple is also working with Alibaba to support its local AI plans, which shows the service is “ready to go,” but not yet ready to launch publicly. For now, Apple Intelligence in China remains paused.
