Apple published a Chinese-language support guide on August 8 explaining how Mac users in mainland China could link Alibaba’s Qwen generative AI models to Siri and Writing Tools, then removed it by the following day. Reuters first reported the guide’s existence, and Chinese news aggregator ReadHub flagged its disappearance, with Apple’s customer service telling Chinese media it had received no notification of a new feature launch.
The guide specified that macOS 26.6 or later was required and that users would need to sign into their own Qwen account. Once connected, Siri would rely on Qwen for more detailed responses, including analysis of photos and documents, while Writing Tools could use it to generate text.
The guide also noted that Alibaba is barred from using submitted materials to train or improve its models. No equivalent guide was published for iPhone or iPad.
Qwen’s Role in Apple Intelligence for China
Apple’s path to bringing AI features to China has been complicated. The company originally partnered with Baidu as its primary China AI provider, but by February 2025, Alibaba had taken over as the lead partner after Baidu’s models reportedly fell short of Apple’s requirements, with Baidu shifted to a supporting role. Alibaba has reported that Qwen will power Siri and Apple Intelligence functions across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for Chinese users, covering both text and image generation.
Chinese regulators cleared Apple Intelligence for launch in China in July 2026, registering Apple’s on-device AI service with the Cyberspace Administration of China, but that approval covered iPhone only. Apple did not say at the time whether or when iPad and Mac would follow, which is part of what makes the Mac-specific guide significant, even in its brief appearance.
Privacy Protections Will Likely Differ From Other Markets
The account-based setup required in China is a notable departure from how Apple handles AI integrations elsewhere. In other markets, Apple uses Google’s Gemini models with Private Cloud Compute protections, a system designed to process requests without Apple or Google retaining identifiable data. In China, where law requires the use of domestic AI models and effectively ensures government visibility into usage, those same protections are unlikely to apply. Requiring users to sign into a personal Qwen account makes the data flow considerably less opaque than Apple’s standard approach.
Tech analyst Liu Dingding told the Global Times that the guide’s removal likely reflects pending technical adjustments tied to the regulatory process rather than a full reversal. Apple has already established a similar pattern in China: in March, Apple Intelligence briefly went live for some Chinese users before being pulled offline without regulatory approval in place.
Whether the Mac Qwen guide’s brief appearance was an accidental early publication or a deliberate signal is not yet clear, but it is the most concrete indication so far that Apple Intelligence on Mac will follow iPhone into China’s ecosystem, and probably sooner rather than later.
