Remember when Apple criticized EU tech rules, especially the Digital Markets Act, to justify the fact that Apple Intelligence can’t be used in the European Union? With Apple Intelligence launching in the EU with local language support in April 2025, it could also be an attempt to pit EU users against regulators.
Apple today released iOS 18.1 with the first set of smart features coming to the latest iPhone, iPad, and Mac models. But when Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence at its developer conference last June, it said it was slow to roll out new AI features, initially limited to US English.
And that still holds true today. Apple Intelligence isn’t technically in beta, but you’ll need to set your iPhone or Mac to US English. On iPhone, Apple also verifies that your Apple account is associated with a European address. In this case, you won’t be able to activate Apple Intelligence on your iPhone at all, even if you set your iPhone to US English.
On the Mac, it’s a different story, as European users can try out the Apple Intelligence feature starting today. If you have a Mac with an M1 chip or higher, you can instantly change languages and enable Apple Intelligence. Observers speculated that this was because Apple was designated as the gatekeeper under the DMA for iOS, iPadOS, App Store, and Safari. macOS is not included in that list.
The company previously announced that support for more languages is on the way, starting with localized English support for other countries in December 2024. Apple plans to add 12 more languages throughout 2025, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
However, Apple Intelligence will also be available on iPhone in the EU in just a few months. “This April, Apple Intelligence features will begin rolling out to iPhone and iPad users in the EU. It will include many of the core features of Apple Intelligence, including writing tools, Genmoji, a redesigned Siri with richer language understanding, and ChatGPT integration,” Apple said in a press release.
The list shows that all Apple Intelligence features except Priority Notifications are coming to the EU. We’ve reached out to Apple for more details on what’s not included in the EU, but it seems difficult to tell the difference. This leads us to a simple question: Again, what was the problem with DMA?
