China

China is doing much of the heavy lifting for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro launch, with a 29% sales increase helping offset declines in the U.S. and Japan, according to Counterpoint Research. Combined global sales of the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max rose 3.1% during their first three weeks of availability compared with the equivalent launch period last year. U.S. sales fell 4%, while...

Apple's website in China says iOS 27.3 will enable some Apple Intelligence features in China, such as Writing Tools, Genmoji, Clean Up, Notification Summaries, Priority Notifications, Visual Intelligence, and Live Translation with AirPods. Select features will not be available, including Siri AI and Image Playground. The features will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and newer until Apple...

Apple today announced that the first iOS 27.3 developer beta will be released next week and enable some Apple Intelligence features in China. In a press release shared on the Apple Newsroom website in China, Apple said the beta will be released on Wednesday, November 4, but that likely means Tuesday, November 3 in the U.S. due to time zone differences. Apple said iOS 27.3 will then be...

Apple plans to bring Apple Intelligence to China in iOS 27.3 after two years of regulatory delays, reports Bloomberg. The launch will include basic ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features for things like photo editing, but Siri AI won't be available. Image Playground and the newer version of Genmoji will be missing, plus text generation tools will be limited. The South China Morning Post today...

Apple today launched sleep apnea notifications in mainland China, following approval from the country's National Medical Products Administration. The feature is supported on the Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2, SE 3, and newer. The Apple Watch uses its accelerometer to monitor breathing disturbances during sleep, analyzing the data every 30 days for signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. Users ...

Tim Cook is visiting China for the third time this year, with talks in Guangdong focused on expanding Apple's manufacturing and sales operations, the South China Morning Post reports. This is Cook's first China trip in his capacity as Apple's executive chairman. He moved into the position on September 1 when John Ternus took over as CEO. Apple has said part of Cook's work involves...

Sales of iPhone 18 Pro models in China were 12% higher in the three days after launching than sales of iPhone 17 Pro models were during their entire first week last year, according to Counterpoint Research. The strong start helped Apple claim the top spot in the country's smartphone market for the week of September 14 to 20, handing it a 33% share. But the news could get even better for...

Apple's foldable "iPhone Ultra" may launch in mainland China later than in some other markets, according to an oft-reliable Chinese leaker. Posting on the Weibo social media platform, Instant Digital said that Apple has a limited initial inventory for its first foldable device, and the rollout could be shaped by regional allocation. The claim follows a recent report out of Japan...

Apple gained ground in India, Latin America, and Europe even as all three markets contracted, according to a new series of Counterpoint Research reports. Between late March and the beginning of August, Indian smartphone sales ran 14% behind the equivalent stretch of 2025, and the market slipped for three straight weeks once major promotions in July had finished. Apple outperformed every...

Reuters reports that Apple has trained its own large language model for the China market, rather than relying on a third-party model to power its Apple Intelligence features in the country. The LLM has been developed with the help of Alibaba, according to the report's sources. The development marks a break from Apple's previous strategy of relying on domestic models to bring generative AI to ...

Apple briefly published a support guide in China explaining how Mac users can connect Alibaba's Qwen AI to Siri and Writing Tools, before pulling it entirely less than a day later. Reuters first spotted the Chinese-language guide on Apple's support site on August 8, which explained how eligible Mac users in mainland China could connect Qwen, Alibaba's family of generative AI models, to ‌Siri‌...

Apple has been testing memory chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) across product lines including iPhones and MacBooks, according to a report today from The Wall Street Journal ($). Laptop makers HP and Acer have already started using memory chips from CXMT in devices sold outside the U.S. Meanwhile, Apple has held early talks with CXMT about supplying components for...

Apple's attempt to use Chinese memory maker CXMT as leverage against Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix has backfired, with the two Korean chipmakers ending up with more pricing power rather than less, ml">DigiTimes reports, citing South Korean and Chinese trade press. This year, Apple has explored CXMT and fellow Chinese chipmaker YMTC as potential DRAM suppliers, and had progressed to testing...

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer has teamed up with several of his Senate colleagues to demand Apple commit to not purchasing chips from Chinese companies ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) or Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC). [PDF] With memory shortages causing Apple to raise the prices of Macs and iPads, the company has been talking with CXMT and YMTC about a chip deal. The two companies...

Apple Intelligence has been approved by Chinese regulators, opening the door for the AI system to reach iPhones in the country for the first time. Reuters reports that China's Cyberspace Administration registered Apple's on-device generative AI service this week, putting it on a list of newly cleared providers that also includes homegrown systems from Chinese phone makers. An unnamed...

Apple grew iPhone shipments in China by 24.4 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2026, making it the fastest-growing smartphone brand in a market that shrank overall, according to preliminary figures released today by research firm IDC. Total shipments in China fell 4.3 percent to roughly 66 million units, amounting to a fifth consecutive quarter of decline. Apple and Huawei were ...

Apple is testing DRAM memory chips from China's state-backed ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), according to a new report from the Financial Times. Last week, it emerged that Apple was in discussions with CXMT and fellow Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) about sourcing memory, with no deal finalized. The new details suggest Apple has since progressed to qualifying CXMT's ...

Apple is in talks to buy memory from Chinese semiconductor companies ChangXin Memory Technologies Co. (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), reports Bloomberg, citing sources with knowledge of the talks. Discussions between Apple and the chipmakers are ongoing, and no deal has been finalized yet. Financial Times previously reported Apple was looking into working with CXMT and...

A group of 48 China-based iOS developers have filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the country's market regulator over the App Store's commission rates, the South China Morning Post reports. The developers sent an open letter to China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), alleging that Apple failed to deliver on a promise to offer the lowest commission rate to the...

The new enhanced Siri AI features that Apple announced today at WWDC 2026 will not be available in the European Union or in China when they are released in beta later this year. Apple said that while Siri AI will be available for free with the new upcoming OS releases, it will not be available in the EU on iOS and iPadOS until it can find a path forward for regulatory approval. Apple said ...