Bloomberg’s latest report has some bad news for Apple customers in the EU: You’ll miss out on some of the best new features of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia in 2024 (and perhaps longer).
Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring to Mac, and SharePlay Screen Sharing won’t be available in the EU in 2024. Apple blames the DMA and its interoperability requirements. In a statement, Apple said:
We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security.
Apple’s statement to the Financial Times was slightly different:
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.
That doesn’t mean the EU won’t ever get those features; Apple only says not this year as it works through “uncertainties.” It may just take time for the EU regulatory agencies to say if the features run afoul of the DMA in their current form or not, and if not, what Apple would have to do to make them compliant while still protecting user privacy and security.
Apple Intelligence was only ever going to support American English this year anyway, with other languages coming in 2025 and beyond. That would somewhat limit its effectiveness in the EU to begin with, but features like iPhone Mirroring to Mac would have been useful to everyone regardless of language.
