Apple has surprise-launched AI features for its China-spec devices, officially announcing its first-ever partnership with Alibaba, with Tongyi Qwen now supported on Mac.

ZheDongXi reported on August 8 that Apple has quietly updated its official Mac user manual, adding a new chapter titled "Use Qwen with Apple Intelligence on Mac", which marks the first time Apple has officially confirmed specific information about the cooperation for Apple Intelligence in the Chinese mainland market, signifying that the domestic version of Apple Intelligence has officially entered the implementation stage.  

Previously, ZheDongXi learned from Alibaba that Alibaba's Qwen will be integrated as the AI capability into Apple Intelligence, bringing intelligent experience to users in China on iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS. Users can directly experience Qwen's capabilities including text and image understanding, content generation and more on Apple devices without switching between different apps.  

This update to the Mac user manual is the first time Apple has officially confirmed this news and publicly displayed the specific cooperation details.  

Qwen Extension Has Two Major Entrances: 

Siri Q&A, Writing Tools 

For Mainland China Users Only 

According to the official instructions, Qwen is currently accessed to Mac via Apple Intelligence extension, covering two scenarios: Siri and Writing Tools. This feature applies to macOS 26.6 or later versions.  

In Siri, users can directly initiate requests related to Qwen, such as asking it to write a poem about dragons, or summarize a document. Siri will first judge whether Qwen is suitable for completing the current task, and obtain user confirmation before calling it. When photos or files are involved, user authorization is also required before the content is sent.  

The other entrance is Writing Tools. After enabling the Qwen extension, users can use relevant capabilities in apps such as Notes and Mail to complete text creation and rewriting. Apple also reminds that Qwen products and services are mainly for adults, and users need to abide by the Qwen User Service Agreement when using them.  

Apple Intelligence is currently available in Beta version, supporting 16 languages including Simplified Chinese, and it is not available on all Mac models.  

Users can go to "Extensions" under the "Apple Intelligence & Siri" menu in "System Settings" to configure Qwen. You need to log in to your Qwen account for the first use, and Apple ID login is also supported.  

The Qwen extension is applicable in the following three scenarios: you are located in mainland China and the country or region of your Apple account is set to mainland China; you are located in mainland China and have not logged in to your Apple account; your Mac is purchased from mainland China. For users who are outside mainland China, whose accounts do not have a Chinese billing address, or whose devices are purchased from overseas regions, Apple Intelligence will still connect to ChatGPT.  

The manual also has a separate section titled "Qwen and Privacy", which links to the privacy policy of Qwen products, and users can turn off the extension at any time.  

Included in Filing, Cooperating with Baidu 

The Implementation of Domestic Apple Intelligence in Mainland China Has Been Paved in Advance 

The implementation of Apple Intelligence in mainland China has had official pavements before. In July, the cyberspace administration department, in accordance with the requirements of the "Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services", included 7 on-device generative AI services for mobile phones including "Apple Intelligence" into the filing list. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, later confirmed on the earnings call that Apple has been approved to launch the first batch of Apple Intelligence functions in China.  

In addition to Alibaba, Apple is also advancing AI cooperation with Baidu.  

According to previous foreign media reports, Apple and Baidu have focused on developing an AI-based search function. These functions are part of the full "Apple Intelligence" feature suite, which can process images and texts, and upgrade the Siri voice assistant for the Chinese market.  

On June 23, overseas blogger One Jailbreak found "Baidu Visual Search" in ExtensionKit when disassembling the firmware code of iOS 27 Beta 2. In July, Bloomberg's report once again mentioned that Baidu's role in the domestic version of "Apple Intelligence" is similar to that of OpenAI + Google in the US version.  

Conclusion: The Domestic Version of Apple Intelligence for Mainland China 

The Cooperation Path Is Gradually Clear 

At present, Apple has not simply copied the overseas version of Apple Intelligence solution to the mainland China market, but introduced specific local partners according to the service environment of different regions. The appearance of Qwen in the official Mac support document this time is an important progress in the implementation process of the domestic version of Apple Intelligence.  

Compared with manufacturers that have already launched large-scale AI layouts in China, Apple does not have advantages in the generative AI sector. With capabilities such as large models and AI assistants quickly entering terminals like mobile phones and computers, Apple needs to supplement its AI model and service capabilities through local Chinese partners to meet user needs in different markets.  

Judging from the information that has been disclosed, Apple is still gradually improving its AI capability portfolio for the mainland China market. The specific scope of partners and more functional boundaries still need to wait for subsequent official information disclosure.  

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "ZheDongXi" (ID: zhidxc), author: Bi Weihao, published with authorization from 36Kr.