According to an exclusive report by Wall Street Journal, new European Union regulations appear to be making it harder for Apple to operate, potentially delaying the rollout of new features for its products – particularly iPhone – in Europe.
Kyle Andeer, Apple’s vice president of legal affairs, was in Brussels today and stated:
“We are already being forced to delay bringing products and features we unveiled this month to our European customers.”
His statement is directly linked to the implementation of the new European legal framework, known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires major technology companies to open up their ecosystems to third parties – with the aim of boosting competition and tackling monopolistic practices.
Apple strongly opposes the new regulation, arguing that such changes could undermine users’ security and privacy. Andeer also warned that being forced to open up its platform to competing apps and services could put European users’ personal data at risk.
Among the features expected to be delayed is “Visited Places”, a new feature set to debut with iOS 26 in the US and other markets – but not immediately in the European Union.
Apple is reportedly conducting an internal review of the technical and legal considerations to ensure compliance with the DMA without compromising its principles of security and privacy protection. However, some features could face significant delays or may not be made available to European users at all.
The clash between the EU and Apple is in full swing, against the backdrop of a broader effort by European institutions to curb the dominance of Big Tech companies and strengthen competition in the digital market.
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