Apple Explains Why Mac Users in the EU Can’t Use iPhone Mirroring

Apple launched a new iPhone Mirroring feature on macOS Sequoia last year that lets Mac users interact with their iPhone, open apps, and manage their notifications. The feature requires an iPhone running iOS 18, but it’s currently not available for users in the European Union.

At its WWDC 25 conference this week, Apple finally explained why Mac users in the EU can’t use iPhone Mirroring. According to a new report from French website Numerama, Apple is concerned about the EU possibly forcing the company to tweak the feature.

Last year, the EU’s Digital Market Act already forced Apple to open up its iOS walled garden in the EU and allow alternative app stores and browser engines. Apple considers that regulators at the EU Commission don’t really understand the technologies from “gatekeepers” they would like to see change to better support competition. Moreover, Apple sees that the EU Commission possibly changing its position on regulation as a risk for its business.

The uncertainty regarding the application of the Digital Markets Act is why Apple is blocking iPhone Mirroring in the EU. Even though the EU Commission currently doesn’t include macOS in its list of large online platforms that need to be regulated, Apple believes that could eventually change. And the company would not like the EU regulator to require the company to tweak macOS to make it possible to mirror Android phones in addition to iPhones.

For the same reason, Apple also doesn’t plan to make iPhone Live Activities and its Phone app available in the EU when macOS 26 Tahoe launches later this fall. The company doesn’t want to risk having to rewrite all of its code to make these features compatible with Android phones in the case the EU Commission starts requiring it.

In Apple’s view, excessive regulation is ultimately hurting the company’s ability to innovate. While the EU’s DMA introduced several positive changes for iOS users in the EU, the absence of features like iPhone Mirroring in the region is unfortunate. We’re not at a point yet where Apple has to cripple its platforms in the EU to avoid regulatory scrutiny, but you could argue that a feature like iPhone Mirroring is probably much more useful than the ability to delete the Camera and App Store apps on iOS in the EU.