This application provides a system message processing method and apparatus. A terminal receives a master information block (MIB), and obtains indication information. The indication information indicates a type of the MIB. In this way, the terminal can process the MIB based on the type of the MIB. In other words, in embodiments of this application, the terminal may decode the MIB based on the type of the MIB. Therefore, the following case is avoided: The MIB is decoded in a fixed manner, and consequently, the MIB cannot be accurately parsed. In this way, communication efficiency is improved.