Apple, Xiaomi and Rokid Launch New Devices as China Sets TV Service Rules

Apple's 24-inch iMac has a 4.5K display at 500 nits, a 12MP Center Stage camera, seven color options, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, with 10-core CPU/10-core GPU and 12-core CPU/12-core GPU configurations. Apple said GPU performance is up to twice that of the M4 iMac, on-device AI performance up to five times higher and the system up to 18 times faster than an Intel iMac. It offers up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports and optional 2.5Gb Ethernet, priced at 12,499 and 13,999 yuan in China. The 14-inch MacBook Pro has a 12-core CPU and GPU, 16GB of standard memory up to 32GB, graphics up to 30% faster than M5, AI workloads up to 25% faster, a Neural Engine up to 1.9 times faster and up to 24 hours of battery life. Its Liquid Retina XDR display reaches a 1,600-nit HDR peak and can be ordered with nano-texture glass. It includes three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, MagSafe 3, an SDXC slot, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, starting at 15,999 yuan, or 17,124 yuan with nano-texture. Preorders begin at 1:10 a.m. Beijing time on Oct. 29, with sales on Nov. 6.

Xiaomi's Redmi K100 uses a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and, in the standard version, a D2 gaming display chip. It has a 6.83-inch 1.5K 165Hz screen, a 10,000mAh battery with 100W wired charging, a 50MP rear camera and HyperOS 4. The Redmi Book 2027 comes in 14- and 16-inch models with Intel 18A-based third-generation Core 5 320 or Core 7 350 six-core processors; the 16-inch model has a 2560x1600 120Hz display. The Redmi Clip Neo earbuds weigh 5.3g each, use a 12mm dual-magnetic driver and provide seven hours of playback, or 32 hours with the case. The K100 starts at 3,499 yuan and goes on sale Oct. 31; the Book 14 starts at 6,799 yuan and the Book 16 at 6,999 yuan, both on sale Nov. 3; the Clip Neo costs 399 yuan and is already on sale.

The NRTA's two regulations, approved Oct. 23 and effective Nov. 27, require cable and IPTV operators to prioritize live broadcasts, enable full-screen live TV at startup, provide channel replay entries and avoid startup ads. Smart TVs must support prioritizing live channels and offer a convenient setting. Operators must let users choose whether startup goes to live TV or the interactive homepage, set up a free section on the homepage, reduce the number of paid columns, disclose program fees, shorten startup time and allow one-button switching of live sources on the remote. Violations of Article 8 and the startup-live clauses can lead to orders to correct, warnings or public criticism, with fines of 10,000 to 100,000 yuan in serious cases. Order No. 17 also repeals Order No. 67 of the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

Rokid launched Rokid Glasses 2, Rokid Color and Rokid Ring. Glasses 2 has a square-round frame in two colors, flexible temples that open 22% wider than the previous generation, a 263mAh battery, IPX4 water resistance, a BES2800BP chip and first-generation Snapdragon AR1 platform, a 12MP camera with 4K30 and 2K60 video, and AI meeting notes. Rokid Color is a binocular full-color pair using a custom 0.16cc Micro-LED optical engine and weighing 55g without nose pads. Rokid Ring supports swipe, single-tap and double-tap gestures, works with Rokid Color, and tracks heart rate, temperature, blood oxygen and sleep. Glasses 2 costs 3,699 yuan in black and 3,849 yuan in tortoiseshell, with a 599-yuan second-generation charging capsule; preorders are open and sales start Nov. 11. Rokid Color costs 4,999 yuan for 2GB+64GB in black and 5,499 yuan for 4GB+64GB in tortoiseshell, with F-code reservations through midnight Oct. 28. Rokid Ring costs 1,699 yuan.

Apple also updated its Creator Studio suite. Final Cut Pro on Mac now includes MotionVFX with thousands of templates, graphics, title fonts and transitions, plus rotoscoping, tracking and color-correction tools; editors can open timeline images in Pixelmator Pro and save changes back to the project. Logic Pro on Mac and iPad adopts the Liquid Glass design. The redesigned Mac browser combines loops, instruments and patches, and the on-device Music Understanding tool analyzes, classifies and tags added sounds; the stem splitter can separate, replace or rebalance drum parts without the original multitrack. Keynote, Pages and Numbers added AI features in beta, including Model Context Protocol support that lets external AI agents and tools read content, edit and automate operations, requiring macOS 27 or later. Keynote also supports the JSON-based Keynote Interchange Format with the .keyx extension. The updates will be free via the App Store in November; new subscribers pay 38 yuan a month or 380 yuan a year after a one-month free trial, buyers of a new Mac or eligible iPad get three months free, and eligible students and staff pay 18 yuan a month or 180 yuan a year.

Google DeepMind released Genie 4, a world model for real-time interactive simulation. Google said Genie 4 combines Gemini models: Gemini Omni makes simulations look and behave like the real world, while other Gemini models provide the reasoning needed for coherence. Users can adjust scenes in natural language, such as moving the camera, changing the weather or adding characters, and each world generates native audio including ambient sound, music and interactive dialogue. Google said the model can provide safe training environments for robots and agents and support creative tools in film, news, games and manufacturing. Genie 4 is initially available to a small group of trusted testers, with wider access planned for Google AI Ultra subscribers in Project Genie and early-access partners through the Gemini API and AI Studio.

Ant Group released the AI assistant Lingguang 2.0, which can identify needs after user authorization, analyze, monitor and follow up, and remind users at key points. Ant said the upgrade moves the assistant from a task executor to an affairs manager, with cross-session memory, long-horizon task scheduling and tool connections; an independent cloud host keeps tasks running after the user leaves the conversation. With Alipay authorization, Lingguang can sort bills, find forgotten auto-renewal subscriptions and suggest savings, monitor flight and hotel price drops, or extract teacher notices from DingTalk class groups. It supports MCP and command-line tools in open environments and includes Alipay bills, membership, travel, DingTalk, Feishu, email and Mijia services.

NVIDIA and Meta said they would expand cooperation on Muse and Muse-series models. NVIDIA will invest $3 billion in Meta's equity offering, which NVIDIA described in a forward-looking statement as a proposed investment that has not closed and is subject to completion and closing conditions. AMD said it would invest $1 billion in the same equity offering and that the first AMD Helios rack-scale systems have been installed and are being tested at Meta; Meta is an early-definition customer for the Instinct MI450 architecture.

Separately, Apple told 9to5Mac, MacRumors and CNBC that it was aware of a small number of iPhone Duo inner-screen issues along the hinge and that affected users should contact AppleCare for replacement. Apple released iOS 27.2, whose China version adds a Limit Motion Data setting under Privacy & Security, Motion & Fitness, restricting added apps from reading accelerometer and gyroscope data and blocking shake-to-jump opening ads. RayNeo announced the fourth-generation binocular full-color AI glasses RayNeo iO+, showing actor Jiang Qiming wearing the product and some technical information, but it did not disclose specifications, features, launch date or pricing. OpenAI said on a page published Oct. 26 that its models had produced results in mathematics, computer science and physics: a proof of the 1991 Sogge local smoothing conjecture in all dimensions, received Oct. 18; a proof that the exponential time hypothesis is false, received Oct. 16; and a rigorous mathematical proof of the existence of certain four-dimensional interacting quantum field theories with gauge fields and fermions, including pure Yang-Mills theory, with the natural-language Yang-Mills proof produced Sept. 9.

Editor's Summary

Apple and Xiaomi led a broad Oct. 27 product cycle with new M6 computers and Redmi devices, while Rokid, Google DeepMind and Ant Group expanded AI hardware and assistant capabilities. China's NRTA set binding cable and IPTV service rules, including a ban on startup ads, with fines for serious violations. NVIDIA and AMD also disclosed proposed investments in Meta, underscoring the sector's AI infrastructure race.