Apple opened the beta of Siri AI on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro on September 14, in English, running on models built in collaboration with Google and Gemini. Inside the European Union, the assistant is missing from iPhones, iPads and watches, and Apple has no date to offer.
Key Takeaways
- Siri AI on iPhone has been live in beta, in English, since September 14, with French and four more languages due next month.
- In the European Union, iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and watchOS 27 ship without the assistant, while macOS 27 and visionOS 27 get it.
- Apple blames the Digital Markets Act and says it has no timeline for Europe.
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ChatGPTSiri AI on iPhone Goes Live, Minus European Customers
The rollout started on Monday. Apple lays out in its announcement of the Siri AI beta a simultaneous release across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27, in English only for now. French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish follow next month.
The feature list covers most of what Apple promised in the spring. The assistant draws on personal context from messages, emails and photos, pulls real-time information from the web, understands what is on screen and takes actions inside system apps. Visual Intelligence across devices, Writing Tools and conversation sync over iCloud round out the package.
Under the hood, Apple describes a new generation of Apple Foundation Models custom-built with Google and its Gemini models. It is the payoff of the Gemini-based Siri rebuild we covered back in May. Requests run either on the device or on Private Cloud Compute, where Apple says personal data is neither stored nor made accessible to Apple or anyone else.
Hardware requirements are strict. Siri AI on iPhone needs an iPhone 16 or later, or an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max. Elsewhere, the list covers the iPad mini with A17 Pro, any iPad or Mac with an M1 chip or newer, the MacBook Neo, Apple Vision Pro, and Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2 or SE 3.
Two regions are left out. In China, the launch is waiting on regulatory approval. In the European Union, Apple says Siri AI will not be available at first on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS. Someone carrying an iPhone 16 in Paris, Berlin or Madrid simply does not get Siri AI on iPhone for now.
The redesign itself was no secret. The iOS 27 public beta that opened to every iPhone in July already carried the rebuilt assistant, with on-device email and photo access, screen awareness and hand-off to ChatGPT or Gemini.
Why Apple Points the Finger at EU Rules
None of this is new. In its June 8 statement on delaying Siri AI in the European Union, Apple put the blame on the Digital Markets Act, the EU law that regulates the largest digital platforms.
Apple argued that the law would force it to hand AI systems nearly unlimited access to a user’s device, along with the ability to act on that access autonomously, without the user keeping ongoing visibility or control. It pointed to reading messages, making purchases and carrying out actions across apps.
The company says every fix it put forward over several months was turned down. The last one was a gradual rollout over 18 months, built around an intermediary layer called the Trusted System Agent. The European Commission rejected it.
Craig Federighi framed the missing timeline as the result of regulators refusing to engage constructively on solutions that protect privacy and security. As things stand, Apple has no availability date for Siri AI on iOS and iPadOS in the European Union.
For the customers involved, the timing stings. Apple already agreed to pay $250 million to settle the class action over misleading Apple Intelligence marketing. The full assistant is finally here, and French arriving next month changes nothing for Siri AI on iPhone in the EU while the exclusion holds.
The block does not cover the whole ecosystem. macOS 27 and visionOS 27 get the assistant inside the EU. A European user can talk to Siri AI on an M1 Mac, but not on the iPhone in their pocket. Outside the EU, an iPad with an M1 chip is on the compatible list just like an M1 Mac. Same chip, different outcome inside the Union, which places the block on the regulatory ground Apple cites rather than on a technical limit.
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Gemini Lands a Showcase Europe Will Not See on iPhone
For Google, the launch works as a demo at massive scale. As we noted, Apple’s answer to ChatGPT rides on 2.5 billion devices, and the models answering behind the assistant are now built with Gemini.
Apple may not stick with a single supplier either. iOS 27 was also expected to let users pick their own AI model through a feature called Extensions, with Google and Anthropic among the providers named. If that feature ships as described, Siri AI on iPhone becomes an entry point for several labs at once.
The European Union sits out that fight on the phone. While the exclusion lasts, Apple’s model partners only reach EU users of the assistant on Mac and Vision Pro, and Apple ships without the European market the version of Siri it has been promising since Apple Intelligence.
European developers face a product planning problem too. An app that relies on actions triggered by Siri AI on iPhone will not reach its EU users through that channel, even though the same users can still reach the assistant on their Mac. An EU customer who bought an iPhone 16 already holds compatible hardware, and regional availability alone keeps the feature switched off on that device, with no software update in sight to change it.
The EU is not the only market on hold. In China, the launch depends on regulatory approval, which leaves Apple dealing with two separate authorities over the same release. The difference lies in tone: with the EU, Apple chose to air its disagreement with the European Commission in public, in a dedicated statement published three months before launch.
What happens next is between Apple and the European Commission, which has already turned down the 18-month plan. Two signals are worth watching in the coming weeks: whether the five new languages actually land next month, and any new Apple proposal to unlock iOS and iPadOS in the Union.
Follow the story on Horizon.
