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Why is there no Siri AI on iPhone in the EU?

by Cătălin Popa · updated 2026-09-13

On 14 September Apple releases iOS 27. The headline feature of the update is Siri AI, a rebuilt Siri that looks things up on the web and answers questions directly. Anyone updating an iPhone in Romania, or anywhere else in the European Union, will not find it. It is not a bug, and a newer phone will not fix it.

Illustration: an iPhone running Siri AI receives, in Romanian, a question about the best restaurants with local cuisine around Brașov. On the right, the European Union list: iPhone with iOS 27, iPad with iPadOS 27 and Apple Watch with watchOS 27 are marked with an X, while Mac with macOS 27 and Vision Pro with visionOS 27 are ticked and marked EN. At the bottom, a map of Romania crossed out, with the text: Siri AI is not available on iPhone in Romania. There is no timeline for the iPhone launch in the EU.
The question in the image is in Romanian, which is exactly what Siri AI cannot take yet: it does not speak Romanian and, in the European Union, it is missing from iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. On the Mac and Vision Pro it works, in English only.

What Siri AI is

Apple presents it as an entirely new version of Siri. For anyone selling something, one difference matters: Siri AI can pull up-to-date information from the web on almost any topic and use it in its answer. In other words, it does what ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Mode already do, but from the assistant that comes installed on the phone.

  • Its own app. Siri gets a separate app where you start new conversations or pick up old ones.
  • Beta, English only. It rolls out on 14 September for devices set to English. French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish follow in October.
  • Daily limits. Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side models have daily usage limits. Apple says expanded access will cost money, without giving a price or a date.
  • Recent devices only. It needs an Apple Intelligence device: iPhone 15 Pro or newer, or a Mac with an M1 chip or later.

In January, Apple and Google announced jointly that the next generation of Apple's models is based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology, and that these models will power new features, including a more personal Siri coming this year. Apple says Apple Intelligence keeps running on the devices themselves and on its own infrastructure, Private Cloud Compute.

The timeline

  1. 08.06

    Apple unveils Siri AI and says it will not ship it on iPhone in the EU

    Both announcements come on the same day, at Apple's developer conference.

  2. 14.09

    iOS 27 and macOS 27 ship, with Siri AI in beta

    Only for devices set to English. In the European Union, only on the Mac and Vision Pro.

  3. Oct

    Five more languages

    French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. Romanian is not on the list.

Where it works in the European Union

Apple has split its devices in two. On those running iOS, iPadOS and watchOS, Siri AI does not appear in the EU. On the Mac and Vision Pro, it does.

  • iPhone iOS 27No
  • iPad iPadOS 27No
  • Apple Watch watchOS 27No
  • Mac macOS 27Yes, in English
  • Vision Pro visionOS 27Yes, in English

Apple adds that features relying on Siri AI are missing in the EU too, not just the assistant itself.

Why it is missing: two accounts

What Apple says

In its 8 June statement, Apple says European regulators accepted none of the solutions it proposed. Under their interpretation of the Digital Markets Act, Apple would have to give any virtual assistant direct access to users' private data and the ability to directly control other installed apps. Apple says it proposed an intermediary, called Trusted System Agent, through which other assistants would have safely received the same capabilities, phased in over 18 months while Siri AI launched in the EU.

What the European Commission says

The Commission's spokesperson, Thomas Regnier, replies that the decision is Apple's and Apple's only, because nothing in the DMA prohibits rolling out new features in the EU. Instead of offering a compliant solution, he says, Apple asked to be exempted from its interoperability obligations for 18 months, and that is not an option.

We are not refereeing the dispute. For a business in the EU the practical effect is the same whoever is right: on iPhone, Siri AI does not exist, and nobody is giving a date for when it will.

What it means for a business in the EU

  1. 1On iPhone, for customers in the EU, nothing changes for now. No new assistant is answering them from the web. And even if Apple launched it in the EU, Siri AI would not speak most EU languages: Romanian, German, Italian or Polish are not announced, not even for October.
  2. 2If you sell outside the Union, there is one more place where recommendations get made. Tourism, exports, services sold in English: from 14 September, compatible iPhones outside the EU and China, set to English, get an assistant that searches the web and answers directly. A customer who asks it no longer necessarily passes through a results page.
  3. 3There is no “SEO for Siri” yet. Apple does not say where Siri AI gets its web information or whether it shows sources with links. Until it does, paying for separate optimisation makes no sense. The same things matter as for every other assistant: a site a program can read, clear information about what you do, and the same facts everywhere you appear.
  4. 4On a Mac you can check it from inside the EU. On a compatible Mac updated to macOS 27 and set to English, Siri AI works in the EU too. It is the simplest way to see what it says about your niche, using the questions an English-speaking customer would ask.

What we do not know yet

This list matters as much as the facts above. Anyone who tells you they know the answer to any of these points is guessing.

  • Which sources Siri AI takes its web information from, and whether it shows them with links.
  • How Apple decides that an iPhone is in the European Union. The announcements do not say.
  • When Siri AI reaches iPhone in the EU. Apple says it has no timeline.
  • What expanded access costs, and how tight the daily limits are.
  • Whether, and when, it will speak Romanian.

Where the data on this page comes from

  • The launch, languages and limits. Apple's press release of 9 September 2026: the 14 September date, the English beta, the October languages, the absence in the EU on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS, the daily limits. apple.com
  • What Siri AI does. Apple's press release of 8 June 2026 introducing Siri AI, covering web information and compatible devices. apple.com
  • Apple's position. Apple's statement of 8 June 2026 on the EU delay and the Trusted System Agent proposal. apple.com
  • The Commission's position. The statement by spokesperson Thomas Regnier, quoted by Daring Fireball on 12 June 2026. daringfireball.net
  • The Gemini models. The joint Apple and Google statement of 12 January 2026. blog.google
  • macOS 27. The Mac release date, announced by Apple on 9 September. 9to5mac.com

We have put no figure on this page about how many people will use Siri AI or how many searches it will move. Apple has not published one, and we cannot verify the estimates that are circulating.

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