Apple has confirmed it will not roll out essential features of its latest series of iPhones in the European Union until April 2025.
The announcement from the California-based tech giant came as it launched its new suite of Apple Intelligence tools for iPhone in the US on October 28. The AI-powered programmes have been billed as a key selling point of the iPhone 16.
In the press release, the company stated the tools would not be available in the EU or on iPhones linked to users from the EU until next April.
It was also vague on whether the full suite of appliances for iPhone would be available at that time, with the firm only saying that the “core” set of Apple Intelligence features would be made accessible.
“This April [coming], Apple Intelligence features will start to roll out to iPhone and iPad users in the EU,” read the announcement — written in fine-print under the US launch press release.
“This will include many of the core features of Apple Intelligence, including Writing Tools, Genmoji, a redesigned Siri with richer language understanding, ChatGPT integration, and more.”
The EU is set to get a paired-down iPhone 16 as a result of its regulatory environment, including the now-infamous Digital Markets Act. https://t.co/MDViJuvGHx
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 10, 2024
While the company would not say why it was not releasing the full set of AI features in the Brussels-regulated bloc, it had previously warned that the EU’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA) would serve as a roadblock to the implementation of new features on some of its products.
Speculation that the DMA was behind the delay could be supported by the fact that Apple Intelligence features were made only available on certain Macbooks in the EU on October 28.
Apple confirmed that EU versions of MacOS installed on systems sporting M1 processors and onwards would be able to use the suite of features, as long as the devices’ system language was set to US English.
“Apple Intelligence is quickly adding support for more languages. In December, Apple Intelligence will be available for localised English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK, and in April, a software update will deliver expanded language support, with more coming throughout the year,” the company said.
Experts have noted that, unlike the iOS operating systems used for iPhone and iPad, MacOS is not subject to controls under the DMA, meaning Apple faced less regulatory strain when it came to innovating on its laptop and desktop platforms.
The European Union is to force through changes to Apple’s iPhone operating system iOS to make it compatible with the bloc’s anti-trust laws. https://t.co/LRZDdCKDLe
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 12, 2024
