Abstract: 【Objective】In this project, experiment was conducted on the free pollination progeny of Malus ‘Purple Prince’ based on the advantages of the abundant resources in a crabapple germplasm bank. The goal of this study was to explore the phenotypic characteristics and breeding effectiveness of half-sib progenies.【Method】The phenotypic diversity of 14 traits was compared using the value of Shannon-Wiener(H^’_R)and Pielou indexes(E_R). The trends in variation and transgressive characteristics of traits between parents and progeny were analyzed using a frequency distribution function. Subsequently, the comprehensive evaluation of phenotypic traits was conducted by the analytic hierarchy process(AHP). 【Result】In terms of phenotypic diversity, the average H^’_R of the 14 traits of the half-sib progenies increased by 13% compared to that of the possible paternal parent group. Among them, the H^’_R and E_R of the ground diameter growth, branch number, heat resistance and mature leaf color increased by 23.8%-53.2%. Regarding genetic improvement, the proportion of excellent seedlings with high comprehensive scores in the half-sib progenies decreased by 37.0% compared with the possible paternal parent group. The proportion of seedlings with purple-red colored leaves or a fast-growing character decreased by 14.9% and 37.5%, respectively. However, the proportion of seedlings with maple leaves, many branches, high seedling straightness, or high heat resistance increased by 12.6%, 48.3%, 28.7% and 18.5%, respectively. Compared with the maternal parent clones, the proportion of seedlings with high comprehensive scores increased by 7.8%(12 seedlings). In addition, although the comprehensive score of some individual was slightly lower than that of the maternal parent clones, some single traits performed notably well. For example, the young leaves of F113 and F60 excellent seedlings were rarely bright red, the leaf type of F35 and F108 excellent seedlings as maple.【Conclusions】Although free pollination reduced the proportion of excellent seedlings with high comprehensive scores, it effectively expanded the genetic basis of half-sib progenies. Furthermore, it had obvious effect on the genetic improvement of some single traits.