“Unpredictable and arbitrary”: Why Apple gets more and more annoyed with the EU

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“Nice new feature – but is it also available in the EU?” European Apple users are increasingly asking themselves this question. Mac users are still waiting for iPhone mirroring, for example, which was introduced a year ago. And the iPhone's live activity widgets, which are also to be displayed on the Mac in macOS 26 Tahoe, will not be available to EU users for now. The reason is that this feature is closely linked to the iPhone remote control. The fate of other newly introduced functions is reportedly still unclear. Apple is said to be in talks with the EU Commission about this.

Regulatory pressure from the EU Commission has increased significantly recently. The Digital Markets Act created the legal framework that is now causing ongoing controversy. Most recently, new regulations that are intended to force Apple to open up its operating systems and devices to competitors and other devices made the headlines. Under the umbrella term of interoperability, the aim is to make the AirPods setup process available to other manufacturers or to open up AirDrop data transfers to alternative providers.

Apple is not officially saying anything about this

In the keynote speech at the WWDC developer conference on Whit Monday, when iOS 26 and the other new operating system versions were presented, Apple didn't mention the topic at all. And the company is also unwilling to comment officially on the matter. A few weeks ago, Apple strongly condemned the EU's actions as a major threat to data protection and security.

However, Apple headquarters is apparently increasingly concerned about whether users are really aware of the consequences of the strict regulation. Previous attempts at explanation have apparently not been successful with large sections of the population.

At the same time, there is concern that Apple is increasingly being accused of wanting to pursue politics at the expense of users by withholding functions in the European Union. In reality, however, they want to prevent the loss of features in the EU at all costs. According to – – it is a tough and painful decision in individual cases if, as in the case of the iPhone remote control, functions are withheld. However, they only want to do this if the danger seems too great or if red lines are crossed. This was reported by heise online from informed sources.

EU: unpredictable and arbitrary?

Apple increasingly appears to perceive communication with the EU as unpredictable and arbitrary. There is a lack of technical expertise and once feedback has been given to Apple on how the software should correctly comply with the requirements, it is often withdrawn after some time.

There are said to be several meetings every month in which Apple representatives try to mediate with the EU Commission. For example, Apple is said to have tried to prevent the requested publication of lists of Wi-Fi networks that users last logged into. Apple itself does not store this data; it is said to reside only locally on the devices. However, competitors have requested the use of this data and Apple is now obliged to comply with the EU requirement. According to informed sources, however, alternative suggestions to place notices upstream and ask users to disclose the data individually have been categorically rejected.

Has the EU turned on Apple?

Apple also has considerable reservations about freely handing over notifications to others – as they often contain information that would make it possible to access or track users' private information. This requirement exists in connection with smartwatches from other manufacturers, which are intended to be on an equal footing with the Apple Watch.

In Cupertino, the impression is apparently growing that the EU is particularly focused on Apple, even though the company is far from being the biggest player on the market in terms of market share. Competitors such as Samsung and the rapidly growing Chinese brands, on the other hand, have been largely spared. And curiously enough, it is mainly other US tech companies that want to use EU regulation for their purposes, above all Meta and Google.

In addition, EU regulation is apparently increasingly slowing Apple down. The company officially announced weeks ago that 500 employees have been assigned to the EU measures alone. Meanwhile, when discussing future features, Cupertino is already considering whether the feature could cause problems with the EU and, as a precaution, is abandoning ideas globally if the risk seems too high.

Court hearing in the fall

Is the EU going too far when it not only tells tech manufacturers what it wants in principle, but also how they have to do it? This is another question that Cupertino should be asking itself. The courts could provide more clarity in the coming months. There is to be a hearing before the EU court in Luxembourg in the fall. An easing of tensions between Brussels and Cupertino still seems a long way off.

(mki)