Apple blesses its EU users with AI features, but there’s a big catch

Apple Intelligence launched yesterday as part of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. Notably, though, EU-based iPhone and iPad users were greeted by an error message stating that Apple Intelligence isn’t available in their region. While Macs in the European Union can now utilize these AI features, Apple’s mobile users will have to wait until next year.

The Cupertino firm has revealed that Apple Intelligence is coming to EU iPhones and iPads in April. AI perks like Writing Tools, Clean Up in the Photos app, and notification summaries are already available on EU Macs. However, given the DMA’s fixation on Apple’s mobile platforms, the company is delaying the iOS and iPadOS rollout to comply with the EU’s regulations.

By the time Apple Intelligence rolls out to EU iPhones and iPads, the suite should be complete. The company states that features like the ChatGPT integration, Genmoji, Image Playground, and context-aware Siri should be ready by then. It’s worth noting that non-EU beta testers can already try the image generation tools by downloading the pre-release builds of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2.

Apple Intelligence is available outside the EU on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, iPads with an A17 Pro or M-series chip, and Apple silicon Macs. For now, all interested users must set the device and Siri language to US English for the AI features to work. The company will add support for more languages in the coming months.