Apple Withholds Siri AI From EU iPhones Over Digital Markets Act

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is not shipping Siri AI to iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch users in the European Union with iOS 27, and has given no timeline for when the assistant will arrive on those devices in the bloc.

Apple attributes the gap to the Digital Markets Act. In a June press release, the company said the Commission's reading of the law would require it to grant competing voice assistants the same deep system access that powers Siri AI, including the ability to read messages, make payments and act across apps, without the safeguards Apple considers necessary.

Apple proposed an intermediary architecture it calls Trusted System Agent, paired with a phased rollout over 18 months. The European Commission rejected that proposal and, according to Apple, did not accept any of the alternatives the company put forward.

The Commission disputes Apple's framing. Spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels that responsibility for withholding the assistant rested with Apple rather than with regulators, and said nothing in the DMA prevents the company from launching new products in the single market. Regnier argued Apple had sought an exemption from its interoperability duties rather than building a compliant system.

Apple has split its own platforms rather than withholding the feature across the board. EU users can access Siri AI on Mac and Apple Vision Pro, neither of which is designated under the DMA.

Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, said in June that the company was disappointed EU users would not have the assistant on iPhone or iPad this year.

The restriction is regulatory rather than technical. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo both carry the A20 Pro chip Apple lists as Apple Intelligence capable hardware.