What happens to Apple in the EU now? A commentary on Apple and the Digital Markets Act

As you probably know from the press, Apple’s AI is not coming to Germany for now, nor to any other European country. I explain what it’s about and what it means for Apple.

Why Apple Intelligence isn’t coming

Apple’s software needs deep access to the user data on iPhone, iPad or MacBook to run the new AI features. For example:

• You’re notified when something changes in your calendar, and you see whether you can still make your next appointment.
• Emails are summarized right in the preview.
• Questions in an email are displayed in a structured way, so that you address all of them in your reply.
• With iPhone Mirroring, there is finally a counterpart to Link to Windows for mirroring the smartphone onto the laptop.

A central requirement of the EU law DMA, the Digital Markets Act, is that large platforms like Apple and Google must grant other providers the same access and must not favor their own offerings. Apple doesn’t want that, so the AI features will not be offered in Germany and Europe for now. As the reason, Apple cites concerns about users’ data security. Mhm, sure.

The consequences for Apple

It’s not foreseeable that the EU Commission will accept Apple’s objection as an exception. That also means it’s not foreseeable that we’ll be able to use the AI features here. Compared to Google, Samsung and Honor, Apple is years behind in AI development anyway, and now it also refuses to agree to European regulations. That means they are withholding their advances from 450 million potential users. Europe and especially Germany are an enormously important market because of purchasing power.

I’m no economic expert, and when counting I sometimes still use my fingers, but whether that’s a good idea economically, I seriously wonder. That also applies to the iPhone 16. It was to be expected that Apple would introduce it with iOS 18 as the first AI iPhone. Will we not get it in Europe at all, or with a stripped-down version of iOS 18? What does the sales pitch and the advertising look like: “Apple’s new and only AI iPhone, just not in Europe”? Then there’s only a new case. And what about the iPads? Apple just dropped the latest M4 chip there, and with that kind of performance, something has to be waiting in the wings for the AI, just not for us.

Ad: ESR charging sets

In the middle of the video, I present three MagSafe-compatible charging sets from ESR as an ad. They also work without Apple Intelligence. The links are in the video description.

My verdict

It looks like Apple’s new AI features won’t come to us anymore, at least in 2024. I sincerely regret that. In part, it’s just a long overdue catch-up with the Android and Microsoft universe. But with features like summarizing emails or monitoring information in emails and text messages, such as flight bookings, which are then displayed at the top, I saw a small spark that Apple might become the most innovative company again and the market leader in never-before-seen technology. I miss this pioneering spirit very much. I had a quiet hope for a big bang.

I was really emotionally disappointed that this little bit of innovation is supposed to be withheld from us, and why? Because Apple doesn’t like to share its sand bucket with other kids. Instead of making it its mission, as it once did, to make the latest developments available, it shuts out one of the most important markets, out of fear that others could adopt the little bit of innovation and maybe do it better. I find that really sad.

What iOS 18 still brings

Let’s focus on what we do have with iOS 18 even without Apple’s AI: you can arrange the apps on your iPhone freely, change the color of the icons and create emojis. I really tried to look at it positively.