Apple is placing the blame on the European Union’s Digital Markets Act for delaying the rollout of some headline features in Europe, saying that mandatory interoperability requirements in the legislation conflict with its user privacy and security standards, which it claims will result in a degraded user experience. The company says some features may launch elsewhere first while it works to meet regulators’ demands.
What Apple Says Is Held Up by EU DMA Interoperability Rules
Features that Apple has said are being held back in the EU include live translation for AirPods, iPhone mirroring on Macs, and new Maps functions including visited places and preferred routes. The company has warned the list could expand if it’s unable to align these releases with escalating requirements under the DMA’s interoperability mandate.
Apple maintains that the European Commission’s interpretation implies that it can’t ship features to its own users until content elsewhere has been given equal access to third-party hardware and software. Apple said in a company post that it intended to propose privacy-preserving designs, but those had been spurned by the Commission and that releasing features first on Apple devices might expose it to fines or cause distribution in the bloc to be withheld.
According to Financial Times reporting, Apple has gone even further, calling on the Commission to rescind its DMA and replace it with a pared-down, “fit-for-purpose” framework — an unusually blunt escalation that underscores how much these rules could shape the iPhone maker’s future product roadmap.
How the DMA Alters the Equation for Apple’s Feature Rollouts
The DMA aims to go after “gatekeepers” that control key platform services. To date, six companies have been named across over twenty services in app stores, operating systems, browsers, and online intermediation. Commitments include enabling competing app stores and payment processing through third parties, alleviating anti-steering provisions, facilitating choice screens for selecting default providers, and granting technical access to essential device interfaces (including at least for NFC payments on an Android phone or tablet and the browser engine).
Penalties due to bite: fines can rise up to 10% of worldwide turnover (and double that for a repeated infringement) with structural remedies available if there is systemic noncompliance. For Apple, that enforcement backdrop all comes directly to how closely an ecosystem can be kept tied in while allowing interfaces for its rivals.
Brussels Pushes Back, Rejecting Apple’s Privacy Claims Under DMA
The European Commission disagrees that the DMA sets a lower level for privacy or security. A Commission spokesperson said the law was aimed at giving users real choice and making competition fairer, while regulators had published specification decisions to help companies comply on interoperability. The spokesperson also described Apple’s position as little more than a lobbying endeavor, arguing that the company has fought application of the law at nearly every stage.
Regulators have already stepped up enforcement action against Apple under EU competition and the DMA, including a recent fine of more than $550 million over how it handles in-app payments, which it is challenging.
There are continued inquiries for DMA compliance by gatekeepers across a range of EU players, not excluding orders that could “reconfigure” product design and business conditions in the EU.
Security Fears and the Debate Over Sideloading
Apple says that with these DMA-driven changes, there will be increased risk of scams, malware, and fraud. The company cites its longstanding model of centralized review and tightly controlled device APIs as a protection that constrains attack surfaces.
Security researchers say they largely agree that increased visibility can introduce potential new vectors, but many also add that risk can be mitigated by layered defenses. Apple’s EU strategy already involves requirements for notarization of outside apps and marketplace approval, designed to filter malicious software without resorting to a single app store. Consumer groups in Europe argue, however, that real choice and accountability can coexist with robust privacy protection if platforms offer clear permissions, strong revocation controls, and labeled options.
What Comes Next for EU Users Awaiting Apple’s New Features
For EU users, the immediate impact is a staggered feature release schedule. And while iPhone mirroring, AirPods translation, and Maps improvements are being offered elsewhere already, the availability of these features in Europe depends on whether Apple and the Commission can come to terms on interoperability designs that meet the letter of the DMA without watering down its security posture.
Behind the scenes, look for a technical tug-of-war over how much access third parties should have to Apple-only features, system hooks, and such.
If the Commission sticks to its line, Apple could still carve up features by region as it weathers delays and the time spent in drawing costs out of a rulebook for the invoking state, pursuing appeals, and lobbying for changes. If a deal gets done, the EU could be a proving ground for an open yet still curated Apple operating system.
In either case, the dispute is a bellwether. The DMA was never designed as an exercise on paper but rather from praxis; to alter platform behaviours in practice. Apple’s high-profile holdups show that the law is doing just that, and leaving it to regulators, developers, and hundreds of millions of users to assess how well the trade-offs are being made.
