Apple spent its WWDC 2026 keynote selling the new, AI-powered Siri as the reason to upgrade your iPhone this year. But if you live in the European Union, there is a catch you need to know about: the new Siri is not launching in the EU on iOS and iPadOS, at least to start. The single biggest feature of the update is, for now, not coming to one of the largest markets on the planet.
We are tracking everything from the event in our WWDC 2026 live blog. Here is what the EU exclusion means.
Who Is Affected?
Anyone using an iPhone or iPad in the 27 EU member states. That covers a huge chunk of Apple’s customer base across Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and the rest of the bloc. They will still get iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, with all the other features Apple showed today. They just will not get the headline act, the rebuilt Siri, when everyone else does.
For the avoidance of doubt, this is a regional restriction, not a hardware one. An EU iPhone that is perfectly capable of running the new Siri still will not get it, purely because of where it is.
Why Is Apple Doing This?
Apple did not lay out a detailed reason on stage, but the pattern is familiar. Over the last couple of years, Apple has repeatedly delayed or withheld Apple Intelligence features in the EU, pointing to the uncertainty created by the bloc’s Digital Markets Act. The DMA forces Apple to open up parts of its tightly controlled ecosystem, and Apple has argued that some of those interoperability requirements raise privacy and security questions it has not yet resolved for its AI features. Whether you read that as genuine caution or corporate brinkmanship, the practical result for EU users is the same: they wait.
What About the Mac?
Apple’s wording specifically called out iOS and iPadOS. It has not been made clear whether macOS Golden Gate faces the same EU restriction, although Apple Intelligence has previously been held back from the Mac in the EU as well. We will update this article as Apple confirms the full picture for each platform.
Will the New Siri Come to the EU Eventually?
History suggests yes, but on a delay. When the first wave of Apple Intelligence features launched, the EU was left out at first and then got them months later once Apple and regulators had worked things through. The same is likely here: not never, but later, and probably noticeably behind the rest of the world. If you are in the EU and the new Siri is your reason to upgrade, the realistic advice is to wait and see rather than buy on the promise.
What EU Users Still Get
It is not all bad news. The rest of iOS 27 still arrives in the EU on the normal schedule: the performance gains, the rebuilt search, the Liquid Glass refinements, the Messages and Safari improvements and the wider design polish. And when the new Siri does eventually clear its regulatory hurdles, it will be free with the update, with a daily usage allowance and a paid iCloud+ tier for heavier use.
New Siri in the EU FAQ
Is the new Siri available in the EU?
No. Apple confirmed the new AI-powered Siri will not launch in the European Union on iOS and iPadOS at first. The rest of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 is still available in the EU.
Why is the new Siri not coming to the EU?
Apple has tied previous Apple Intelligence delays in the EU to the uncertainty created by the Digital Markets Act and its interoperability requirements. The new Siri follows the same pattern.
Will the new Siri come to the EU later?
Probably, but on a delay. Earlier Apple Intelligence features reached the EU months after launching elsewhere, and the new Siri is expected to follow a similar path. In the meantime, Tim Cook and EU regulators are back in talks over a compliant route to bringing Siri AI to Europe.
