The suspicion has been confirmed: The new live translation for the AirPods Pro is not coming to the EU and Germany for the time being due to the interoperability requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Heise online has learned this from informed sources. However, the good news is that Apple is apparently doing everything it can to change this soon. This gives us at least some hope that – as was previously the case with Apple Intelligence in general, for example – the green light will still be given.

Apple itself is not officially commenting on the reasons and the next steps. When asked, a spokesperson referred to a support document stating that the function is not available if the user is located in the EU and the country or region of their Apple account is also in the EU. The discovery of the passage caused disillusionment among EU users after the presentation of the feature, which took place during the Apple event on Tuesday. The announced support for the German language led many to hope that the function would also be available immediately in the EU.

How the EU situation is affecting us

In concrete terms, the current regulation means that, for example, an American with an Apple account in their home country could also use the function in the EU while on holiday in Europe. This should also apply to a German who is in the USA – despite having a German account. However, Germans who want to use the live translation function in the EU will not be able to do so. This would be similar to the regulation that already exists for iPhone mirroring. During a stay in the USA, we were able to use remote control of the iPhone via the Mac, despite having a German Apple ID. As soon as we returned to mainland Europe, the function was blocked again.

Interoperability is a hot potato between Apple and the EU. At the beginning of the year, the EU Commission issued the iPhone manufacturer with comprehensive guidelines on how it must open up to smartwatches, GPS watches, headphones and mixed reality headsets from other manufacturers. In the event of a breach, the Californians face severe penalties. Apple warns against forced opening. In addition to negative effects on the security of the devices, the bureaucracy is slowing down the company’s innovative strength.

(mki)

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This article was originally published in

German.

It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.

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