During WWDC, Apple announced Siri AI, a completely new version of Siri that relies on Apple Intelligence and is deeply integrated into iOS and iPadOS. Think of a smarter assistant that better understands context, can summarize content and helps you in almost any app.
However, this is different for users in the European Union. Due to requirements arising from the Digital Markets Act, Apple cannot roll out Siri AI on iPhone and iPad here for the time being once iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 are released. Apple says it is disappointed, continues to talk to the European Commission, but has not yet mentioned a new date.
Siri AI and Apple Intelligence
Thanks to software update 27, Siri gets its biggest upgrade ever by completely transforming from a simple voice assistant to an AI chatbot-like personal assistant with its own app. From now on you can have conversations with both text and speech, just like with ChatGPT or Google Gemini, where you ask multiple questions and commands in one conversation.
Siri AI can perform multiple tasks in succession for the first time; for example, edit a photo and share it directly with a contact, and understand what’s shown on your screen so you can ask questions about photos, messages or apps you’re currently seeing.
Visually, a lot also changes: when using Siri AI, a new animation appears in the Dynamic Island with a “Search or Ask” bar and transparent result cards that contextually show information from your own apps. On Mac, you can instantly consult Siri from Spotlight by simply typing your questions. The new Siri app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch allows you to review and continue previous conversations, something that was not possible before.
Siri AI helps you compose and improve texts by providing smart suggestions, rewriting sentences and supplementing ideas. Whether you’re composing a message, writing an email, or refining text, Siri AI thinks along with you and adapts the tone and structure to your intent, making writing faster and easier.
No Siri AI in the EU
Apple confirms that Siri AI will not initially be available on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 for users in the European Union. In other regions, the updated Siri will appear immediately as part of the next major updates. According to Craig Federighi, Apple is “deeply disappointed” that EU users will not be able to use the new Siri once the systems are released, and there is currently no timeline for availability on iPhone and iPad in the EU.
Which Siri AI features are missing in the EU
Due to the postponement, iPhone and iPad in the EU will miss a series of new features linked to Siri AI. Examples Apple cites include:
- A separate Siri app that allows you to review and resume previous conversations.
- More extensive Visual Intelligence to recognize and explain information in photos and screen content.
- Advanced writing tools throughout the system, for example to rewrite, summarize or adjust the tone of text.
- A Siri mode in the Camera app on iOS, with which you can give commands via voice while photographing.
- Even more unique Siri AI features
These features will remain absent on iOS and iPadOS in the European Union for the time being developers who want to test it.
Availability on Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro
The postponement specifically applies to iOS and iPadOS within the European Union. However, Siri AI will continue as scheduled on other platforms, including in the EU. This means that users in the European Union will be able to use the new Siri features on devices running macOS 27, visionOS 27 and watchOS 27, once these updates are released and a supported language is set, which will initially be English.
Why the DMA plays a role
According to Apple, the core of the problem lies in the way European regulators interpret the Digital Markets Act. These rules require major platform providers to give competing services, such as other virtual assistants, access to the same capabilities as their own solution.
Apple says current requirements mean a virtual assistant should be able to directly access sensitive user data and perform actions in other apps, with few restrictions. Think of reading and sending messages, making purchases or accessing files, without sufficient control by the user.
Apple’s proposed solution
To comply with the DMA without compromising user privacy and security, Apple proposed its own architecture. The statement talks about a kind of trusted middle layer that would let other assistants safely use the same functions as Siri AI, without giving them unrestricted access to the entire system.
Apple also proposed a phased rollout, with Siri AI available immediately in the EU, while the new security and interoperability systems would be rolled out over the next 18 months. According to Apple, the European Commission has rejected that plan and has not accepted alternative proposals.
Implications for developers in the EU
This has direct consequences for developers in the European Union. They cannot test, integrate or offer the new Siri AI functions on iOS and iPadOS in their apps for the time being, even in beta versions. This means that apps in the EU lag behind apps in other regions that can already work with the new Siri integrations, for example for deeper commands, smart workflows or contextual help within apps.
What this means for you as a user
If you use an iPhone or iPad in the Netherlands or Belgium, you will receive iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 with the other innovations, but without Siri AI and the associated smart functions. Existing Siri functions continue to work as you are used to, but the new generation assistant will come later or possibly in an adapted form.
If you also have a Mac, Apple Watch or Apple Vision Pro, you can use Siri AI there well use as soon as macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27 are available in the EU. This creates a situation where the experience between your Apple devices temporarily differs.
Apple Intelligence features remain available
Despite the delay for Siri AI, many Apple Intelligence features are already available on iPhone and iPad as they are built into apps and system-wide tools. There are new options in Image Playground for being creative with images and emoji. In the Apple Intelligence Tools menu, you’ll find the Cleanup feature along with three new options: Improve automatically adjusts exposure, contrast, sharpness and colors with one tap, Expand adds image to the edges of a photo to enhance it, and Reframe changes the perspective of photos so that the composition and focus on the subject can be adjusted.
Outlook for Siri AI in the EU
Apple emphasizes that it will continue to work with European regulators to bring Siri AI to iOS and iPadOS in the EU. At the same time, the company says that there is currently no date or version set for which the functions will be rolled out.
Previous delays surrounding Apple Intelligence in the EU have already shown that such processes can take a long time, although Apple eventually managed to find a way. For now, it remains to be seen how the negotiations surrounding the DMA will proceed and whether there will be room for a solution that both complies with the law and guarantees the privacy and security of users.