Apple
customers in Europe might have to wait a bit longer for some exciting new iPhone tricks. The tech giant announced Friday it's putting the brakes on rolling out three nifty features in the EU this year. Why? It's all because of some tricky new rules.
The features getting delayed are
Apple Intelligence
(think super-smart
Siri
),
iPhone Mirroring
(showing your phone screen on your Mac), and some fancy upgrades to
SharePlay screen sharing
.
These were set to launch with the next big iPhone update later in 2024, but EU users will have to sit tight for now.
So what's the holdup? Apple's pointing fingers at something called the
Digital Markets Act
(DMA). It's a new set of rules in Europe aimed at keeping big tech companies from getting too powerful. The DMA wants companies like Apple to play nice with their competitors and share some of their tech secrets.
But Apple's not thrilled about this. They're worried that the “regulatory uncertainties” of the act might put users' privacy and
security
at risk. "We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products," Apple said in a statement. Thus, it won’t be bringing three of its newly announced features – iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence” to EU users this year.
The EU, on the other hand, says they're just trying to keep things fair for everyone. They want Apple and other tech giants to follow the rules if they want to do business in Europe. “Gatekeepers are welcome to offer their services in Europe, provided that they comply with our rules aimed at ensuring fair competition.,” told an EU spokesperson to the Verge.
This isn't just a small hiccup for Apple. Europe is a huge market for them, bringing in almost a quarter of their worldwide sales last year. That's a lot of iPhones!
Apple says they're not giving up, though. They're hoping to work things out with EU officials and find a way to bring these cool new features to European users without breaking any rules or putting anyone's data at risk.
For now, Apple customers in Europe will have to be patient. The rest of the world will get to play with these new AI features later this year, while EU users might have to wait until 2025. But who knows? Maybe by then, the features will be even cooler!
English (US) ·