Apple is Working on Copy/Paste Feature Between iPhones and Windows PCs

Apple has started working on a new copy-and-paste feature between iPhones and Windows PCs at the request of Microsoft. As reported by MacRumors, the Redmond giant has taken advantage of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) to ask Apple to implement this interoperability feature between iOS and Windows, which are two “large online platforms” that need to comply with the new EU law.

According to MacRumors, Apple started evaluating Microsoft’s request in March and proposed a solution in June. This is what Apple detailed in its proposal:

To adopt this solution, you will need to adopt AccessorySetupKit in order for the user to consent to the necessary permissions allowing the pasteboard to be shared with your accessory. This solution will require the user to perform a one-time consent to sharing the pasteboard with each paired accessory that will receive this functionality.

Overall, Apple’s solution is somewhat similar to what the company implemented in iOS 26.5 in the EU to allow third-party wearable devices to display notifications from an iPhone. Users will only need to consent to sharing a clipboard with their paired accessories to access the new universal clipboard feature.

Apple already offers a seamless cross-device copy and paste feature between its devices, but to comply with the EU’s DMA, the company has no choice but to improve interoperability with other platforms. Apple currently plans to introduce this new iPhone-to-Windows copy and paste feature in the EU through a developer beta before the end of the year. A public release may follow in early 2028.