Spur-type bud mutation varieties are important germplasm resources that could be utilized in the dwarfizing and close planting of apple in China. Studying their physiological basis and related genes lays the foundation for further exploring the formation mechanism of apple spur-type bud mutation. In this study, the leaves, stems and stem tips of the common cultivar ‘Yanfu No. 8’ and the spur-type ‘Huimin Fuji’ during the rapid growth period were used as experimental materials to measure the branch thickness and internode length. The contents of endogenous hormones (IAA, GA₃ and ABA) and soluble sugars (glucose, sucrose, fructose, and sorbitol) were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the expression characteristics of hormone-related genes in different varieties were compared and analyzed by real-time quantitative qRT-PCR, providing support for the study of the regulation mechanism of branch development in apple. The results showed that the internode length of ‘Yanfu No. 8’ was 1.2-fold higher than that of ‘Huimin Fuji’, while the branch diameter was significantly lower than that of ‘Huimin Fuji’. The contents of sucrose and sorbitol in stems of ‘Yanfu No. 8’ were 2.5- and 1.3-fold higher than those in ‘Huimin Fuji’, respectively. The glucose content in stem tips of ‘Yanfu No. 8’ was only 0.3-fold of that in ‘Huimin Fuji’. The contents of GA₃ and IAA, and the expression levels of TIR1 and GA20ox genes in stems and stem tips were significantly higher than those in ‘Huimin Fuji’. However, the content of ABA, and the expression levels of SnRK2 and PYL were significantly lower than that in ‘Huimin Fuji’. The expression level of GA20ox in leaves was significantly higher than that in ‘Huimin Fuji’. The study shows that lower concentrations of GA₃, IAA, sucrose and sorbitol, as well as higher concentrations of ABA and glucose, were closely related to the formation of spur-type apple varieties.