Apple’s new Live Translation for AirPods will not launch in the European Union, but there is a catch: Americans (and non-EU Apple account holders) in Europe can still use it. The limitation only exists if both your physical location and your Apple Account country or region are set in the EU, Apple said in a notice about feature availability.
What Apple Confirmed
“Live Translation with AirPods is not available if you are in the EEA and your Apple Account Country or Region also is in the EEA,” Apple acknowledges. The company has not given a formal justification, but the upshot is familiar: Apple has previously paused or altered services in Europe in response to shifting interpretations of the Digital Markets Act. Meanwhile, services like Apple Intelligence were delayed in reaching European users as they had to wait for further compliance reviews than in other territories.
Who Can Use It on Day One
Live Translation will also be supported on AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2, or AirPods 4 with ANC when connected to an iPhone that is compatible with Apple Intelligence and has the latest iOS installed. If you travel in Europe and have a non‑EU Apple account you should have access. Alternatively, if your Apple account is based in an EU country and you’re sat in the EU, you won’t get access to the feature. ### Remarkably however an EU account holder taking a trip outside of the EU could regain access as Apple’s wording specifies these two conditions be met simultaneously.
How Live Translation Functions for AirPods
Live Translation employs Apple Intelligence to translate voices in close to real time using your AirPods’ microphones and speakers, facilitating a more natural, eyes‑up conversation than a phone‑screen exchange. At launch, Apple will support English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese (Brazil). Chinese (Simplified), Italian, Japanese and Korean are on its roadmap, the company says.
Look for tight integration with Siri and on‑device processing as often as possible, and Apple’s Private Cloud Compute for larger models as necessary. That hybrid approach is similar to how Apple approaches other voice and language tasks with Apple Intelligence, with privacy protections Apple has described in white papers and at developer sessions.
Why the EU Delays
Decisions on setting and enforcing standards as well as calls for data and interoperability among companies reflect two other key planks of the technology regulations proposed by the EU: mandates at obligations for “gatekeepers” around things like interoperability as well as self‑preferencing — and companies have preemptively tweaked or put off certain features in the region while compliance questions are sorted. The upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act will also establish transparency and safety requirements for AI systems, including for their generative and high‑risk applications. Although Live Translation isn’t listed as high‑risk, it seems like Apple is taking its time to get language features incorporating on‑device AI, cloud inference and system level access right.
This is not without precedent. Apple previously pushed off iPhone Mirroring and some SharePlay improvements in the EU until it got more regulatory clarity, and debuted Apple Knowledge in Europe only after it spent more time under scrutiny, so this is something that it simply has to get used to doing in the EU. Enforcement actions from the European Commission have been picking up across multiple tech sectors, so a phased rollout helps guard against retrofitting later.
Travel Scenarios/Edge Cases
For travelers from the US, the upshot is straightforward: Bring your supported AirPods and a compatible iPhone, and Live Translation should work in Paris, Lisbon, Berlin or Madrid. One important nuance here: Apple’s launch language set includes Portuguese (Brazil), which is distinct from European Portuguese (in vocabulary and pronunciation). It will continue to work, but don’t expect everything to line up 100% with every regional quirk.
For residents of the EU, it’s not an official workaround. Apple Support warns that you may lose access to included subscriptions, warranties and even payment methods by doing this, and they don’t recommend it – so keep all that in mind. Apple has not offered a timeline for EU availability, but like with Apple Intelligence, eventually clearing in Europe, Live Translation might follow once all compliance issues have been answered.
Competitive Context
Apple is entering a space in which Google’s Pixel Buds and the Google Translate app already boast conversation modes, and where specialized translation earbuds from niche firms have been testing the waters for on‑the‑go speech translation for years. Where Apple’s end‑to‑end integration with AirPods microphones, Siri and the iPhone’s AI stack can help cut friction[2] today in actual conversations. Counterpoint and Canalys, two research companies, both put in iPhone’s share of the European smartphone market at around a quarter, so the delayed debut in the EU is hitting a significant number of users,that the loophole makes international travelers’ mild.
Bottom Line
Live Translation is a headline feature for Apple’s latest AirPods and iOS – but if you live in the EU, you’re going to have to wait. If you have an Apple account outside the European Union, you can use Apple Pay while traveling through Europe; if you have an account in the E.U. and you’re in the E.U., you can’t — not yet, at least. Keep an eye out for signals from Apple and the EU regulators, but, if recent releases are anything to go by, the feature should land once Apple overcomes the regulatory hoops that scuppered other AI‑based services.