Apple is working on a new feature that will let users copy and paste content between an iPhone and a Windows PC after Microsoft requested better interoperability under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.
The feature aims to bring a workflow similar to Apple’s Universal Clipboard to Windows users, although Apple says it still requires a significant amount of engineering work before it is ready. Based on Apple’s current timeline, the feature is expected to arrive around fall 2027 and will likely remain limited to the European Union.
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MacRumors spotted Apple’s latest update on its EU interoperability requests page, where the company confirmed that it plans to develop a solution that lets developers create extensions to share and import clipboard content between an iPhone and paired accessories, including Windows PCs.
Microsoft requested the feature because Windows currently cannot match the seamless copy and paste experience available between Apple devices through Universal Clipboard.
Apple outlines how the feature will work
Apple says the new system will rely on the frameworks it introduced with iOS 26.5 and will require users to approve clipboard sharing for each paired Windows PC through AccessorySetupKit before synchronization begins.
“We will introduce a new solution that will follow similar patterns to the Accessory Notifications and Accessory Live Activities frameworks that were introduced on iOS26.5. It will enable you to create an extension to share and import pasteboard items with paired accessories. The system will notify your extension when items are copied into the clipboard; then your extension can use the Accessory Transport Extension framework to share the contents with your accessory as necessary using available transports.”
Microsoft originally argued that cross-device copy and paste has become a basic productivity feature that users expect across their primary devices, especially when they regularly switch between a phone and a computer.
“Cross-device copy and paste is a foundational productivity interaction that users expect to ‘just work’ across their primary devices.”
Apple previously warned that it first needed to determine whether such a feature could protect the integrity of iOS and avoid creating problems for the operating system or its intellectual property.
After completing that assessment, the company agreed to move forward and described the project as a significant engineering effort that should reach developer beta after development finishes in fall 2027, with a public release expected later. Although Apple has not confirmed the software version, the current timeline points to the feature arriving with iOS 28.
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