Apple (Malus domestica) is one of the most widely cultivated and consumed fruits worldwide, valued for its rich nutrition and health benefits. Low temperature (LT) significantly limits apple growth, productivity, and fruit quality. Understanding the intricate regulatory networks, underlying cold tolerance is crucial for developing resilient apple cultivars. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the molecular control enabling apple to withstand cold stress, encompassing transcription cascades, phytohormonal networks, reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulation, epigenetic modifications, and post-translational modifications (PTMs), as well as the crosstalk with drought, immune, and light signaling pathways. We also discuss the management strategies for enhancing apple cold tolerance, including the exploitation of wild germplasm resources, multi-omics-based network integration, gene editing, molecular marker-assisted breeding, rootstock grafting, and emerging bioinoculants approaches. This review provides a foundational framework for molecular breeding and gene regulatory strategies to improve cold resilience in apple.

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