The first beta of iOS 26.5 has arrived, with Apple Intelligence now making its way to users in China, and Notification Forwarding expanding beyond the EU.

On Monday, less than a week after iOS 26.4 received its full public release, Apple started the iOS 26.4 beta testing cycle. The iPhone software update has the build number 23F5043g, up from 23E246 on the final version of iOS 26.4.

Apple Intelligence debuts in China

According to multiple iOS users based in China, including the former leaker LoveToDream, Apple Intelligence features have seemingly become available in the country.

Apple Intelligence is now seemingly available in China.

Apple Intelligence first made its way to users in the United States, with the iOS 18.1 update. Apple eventually added support for regions and languages beyond English. Users in China, however wouldn’t receive the AI-powered utilities nearly as quickly.

For Apple Intelligence to debut in China, Apple was required to partner with a domestic AI company, and the iPhone maker allegedly chose Alibaba and Baidu.

Throughout 2025, it was repeatedly rumored that Alibaba’s involvement would include the creation of a censorship layer for Apple Intelligence. Monday’s iOS 26.5 developer beta, meanwhile, contains a reference to Baidu’s Wenxin Yiyan model, rather than one by Alibaba.

In any case, Apple Intelligence users in China likely won’t be able to see information their government doesn’t agree with, or doesn’t want shown to the general public. This effectively represents a censored version of Apple Intelligence, unique to China.

While Apple Intelligence is available to users running Monday’s developer beta, it remains to be seen if its China release is tied to the iOS 26.5 update. The AI-powered feature suite could also become available to users in China running iOS 26.4 and earlier versions.

Notification forwarding now available beyond the EU

With the iOS 26.3 update, Apple added a notification forwarding feature to make the iPhone work better with smartwatches from manufacturers other than Apple. Initially, however, the capability was only available in the European Union.

The new capability, found in the Notifications area of the Settings application, controls whether notifications from an iPhone can be displayed on another non-Apple device.

Notification forwarding was likely meant to ensure Apple’s compliance with the interoperability requirements laid out within the EU’s Digital Markets Act. In essence, the DMA requires Apple to make some of its proprietary features available on devices from other manufacturers.

Notification Forwarding is now available to everyone using iOS 26.5 beta 1.

Apple was similarly forced to open up the iPhone’s NFC hardware, effectively helping Apple Wallet rivals. The iPhone maker later made the same capabilities available to developers in the United States, and it looks like the same thing will happen with Notification Forwarding on iOS 26.5.

Monday’s iOS 26.5 beta also lets developers test end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging. This capability has been available for testing since the second developer beta of iOS 26.4, though it remained absent from the software’s public release.

End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging continues to be available only for developers, and those inclined to test the feature.

No Siri improvements in iOS 26.5 yet

While the iOS 26 update as a whole is largely known for its Liquid Glass aesthetic, iOS 26.5 may to introduce Apple’s long-overdue Siri overhaul. This is according to a February 2026 report, which claimed that the virtual assistant’s personalization features were being tested with iOS 26.5.

Initially, Siri was supposed to receive a massive upgrade with the roll out of Apple Intelligence, which made its debut at WWDC 2024. Apple’s virtual assistant was meant to gain enhanced in-app capabilities and contextual awareness, features that Apple even featured in advertisements.

However, while the iPhone maker’s other AI-powered features, like Image Playground and Writing Tools, were all made available to the general public, the contextually aware Siri experienced delays.

Supposedly, Apple wants to release the Siri revamp with iOS 26.5, as it failed to do so with the preceding iOS 26.4 update. Whether Siri will receive an update in iOS 26.5 isn’t clear though.

Overall, if the first developer beta is anything to judge by, it looks like iOS 26.5 will be somewhat of a subdued update. Still, the software has only just entered developer testing, so there’s still time for Apple to enable the long-awaited Siri upgrade later on.