Apple Intelligence Features Not Coming to European Union at Launch Due to DMA

[MacRumors]

Apple today said that European customers will not get access to the Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring, and SharePlay Screen Sharing features that are coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac this September due to regulatory issues related to the Digital Markets Act.

In a statement to Financial Times, Apple said that there will be a delay as it works to figure out how to make the new functionality compatible with the European Union's competition rules.

Due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act, we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these [new] features -- iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence -- to our EU users this year.

Apple Intelligence includes a wide range of additions that overhaul everything from Siri to apps, while iPhone Mirroring is a feature that allows the iPhone to be controlled on a connected Mac. SharePlay Screen Sharing lets users take control of another person's screen while using the SharePlay feature, with the aim of providing assistance.

Some of the Siri-related Apple Intelligence capabilities will not be launching until 2025, but Genmoji, Image Playground, Writing Tools, and many new in-app capabilities are set to be available starting in September, and these are what iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in the European Union will miss out on. It is not clear how long it will take Apple to expand this features to the EU, nor what changes Apple might have to make to introduce them under the DMA.

Apple's warning comes as the European Commission prepares to make a ruling on whether prior changes to allow for app marketplaces meet the terms of the DMA. Regulators have said that there are "very serious" issues with Apple's implementation, likely related to the Core Technology Fee that Apple is charging.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Intelligence Features Not Coming to European Union at Launch Due to DMA

 

[contacos]

I figured this was going to happen to Apple Intelligence but iPhone Mirroring, really? 😵‍💫 I was looking forward to that

 

[brofkand]

I doubt they'll be able to roll them out to other customers either, so no big loss.

 

[breenmask]

it's ok though, I can now side load that one shady looking app that I've always wanted that's going to steal all of my info

hurray!!

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

Would this actually pop in this AI frenzy bubble?

 

[Risco]

So that means UK will be getting it?

 

[mdnoble]

EU != Europe

 

[winxmac]

Apple Intelligence not yet available in EEA and EU
Sideloading only available in EEA and EU

 

[stocklen]

ouch.
dodged that one in the UK then.

Not that im expecting the good stuff to appear with iOS18 anyway theres always a delay of somesort.

 

[DaveFlash]

this is complete and utter bantha poodoo!

nothing in our dma says apple can't bring it to our markets in the way they've announced it at wwdc in fact I would say and hazzard a guess with them offering an external ai processor from the start, in this case OpenAI's ChatGPT, it is already in complete compliance with the spirit of the DMA. Add to that the fact they spent a long time going on about their private cloud compute and then I assume it's also in compliance of GDPR and even goes beyond what GDPR stipulates.

So, this is just Apple being spiteful for their other troubles with eu lawmakers, the spotify case and the epic thing....

 

[Jumpinbeans]

Possibly the first Brexit benefit (if the uk gets it)

 

[0-0]

Thank god the UK is fine. Lets go!

 

[anshuvorty]

LOL...now, there is even less reason to upgrade from the iPhone 14 Pro to the iPhone 16 or even iPhone 17....at least for folks in the EU...

 

[TechnoMonk]

EU nannycrats should build their own phones and AI, since they know the best.

 

[Danilamak]

Sounds like trillion company don't have enough resources.

Or someone in apple personally didn't like DMA so they just correct priorities.

 

[yabeweb]

So pretty much the only feature of iOS 18 want be avaiable….
iOS 18 is then just some patch, couldnhave been 17.9

 

[Mikey44]

What?? How dare they delay something because of too much bureaucratic red tape…

 

[spazzcat]

Get used to it as it will happen more and more as time goes on.

 

[RyanNSkolnick]

this is complete and utter bantha poodoo!

nothing in our dma says apple can't bring it to our markets in the way they've announced it at wwdc in fact I would say and hazzard a guess with them offering an external ai processor from the start, in this case OpenAI's ChatGPT, it is already in complete compliance with the spirit of the DMA. This is just Apple being spiteful for their other troubles with eu lawmakers, the spotify case and the epic thing....

How is Apple supposed to implement iPhone mirroring without letting any other company have access to core APIs that would allow this sort of interaction? That would violate the DMA

How is Apple supposed to implement Apple Intelligence without giving third party AI programs the same core OS access that Apple Intelligence will have? (Chat GPT does not have that same access, it will be more akin to a wrapper that Siri will pass requests to)

This was something people were screaming out when the DMA was being debated. And now it's happening

 

[cardfan]

ouch.
dodged that one in the UK then.

Not that im expecting the good stuff to appear with iOS18 anyway theres always a delay of somesort.

What good stuff?

 

[LowKeyed]

It seems like a reoccurring theme of the EU's competition rules are "You can't do anything with your product that might make someone prefer it over a competitors product"

 

[shadowboi]

Is this how they decided to deal with that $1.8b fine?

Considering that one could mirror iPhones for, like, ages using QuickTime, how does the new feature even relate to DMA?

They haven’t added anything substantially new anyway and AI chatbots are already installable from AppStore. Lack of iOS 18 “innovation” is not the thing to cry about for EU users

 

[sw1tcher]

And Apple Intelligence features not coming to China either because OpenAI isn't allowed to operate there.

 

[dbwie]

This is Apple, perhaps in a subtle way attempting to get their customers to turn on the regulators in the EU. Ha ha. Or maybe they don’t want to be forced to create android mirroring on the Mac desktop.

 

[No5tromo]

Nice one Apple. On the bright side that solves the dilemma of whether to upgrade this year.