Apple’s newest and strongest wording on Siri AI in the European Union is not in a press release headline. It is in footnote 3 of the iPhone 18 Pro announcement, it covers three operating systems rather than one, and it ends with a sentence Apple has not used before.
The footnote reads, in full: “Siri AI will not be available initially in the EU on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Features that rely on Siri AI will also not be available in the EU on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Apple is working hard to find a path forward that preserves its users’ privacy and security.”
| Item | What Apple published |
|---|---|
| Where it appears | Footnote 3, iPhone 18 Pro press release, September 9, 2026 |
| Operating systems named | iOS, iPadOS, watchOS |
| Scope | Siri AI, plus “features that rely on Siri AI” |
| Duration | “Initially,” with no end date given |
| Apple’s stated intent | “Working hard to find a path forward that preserves its users’ privacy and security” |
| Regulation named | None |
| Siri AI launch elsewhere | Beta from September 14, English to start |
The sentence that is new
The first two sentences of the footnote restate a position Apple has held for months. The third does not. “Apple is working hard to find a path forward that preserves its users’ privacy and security” is the most forward-leaning public language Apple has attached to the exclusion.
Don’t miss the best of The Mac Observer
Set us as a preferred source and our Apple reporting ranks higher in your Google Search results and Discover feed — one tap, no account changes.
What it does not do is set a date, name a regulator, name a law or describe what a path forward would look like. Apple frames the problem in terms of privacy and security and stops there.
Three operating systems, not one
Apple’s own pages are not consistent about the scope. Footnote 2 of the same iPhone 18 Pro release uses a shorter form that names only iOS. Footnote 3, the Apple Intelligence page and the new Apple Watch support document all name iOS, iPadOS and watchOS.
| Apple page | Operating systems named |
|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro press release, footnote 3 | iOS, iPadOS, watchOS |
| apple.com/apple-intelligence | iOS, iPadOS, watchOS |
| Support document 148354, Audio Intelligence | iOS, iPadOS, watchOS |
| iPhone 18 Pro press release, footnote 2 | iOS only |
| apple.com/ios | Shorter form |
| apple.com/iphone-duo, footnote 2 | Shorter form |
| apple.com/iphone-18-pro/specs | Shorter form |
The three-operating-system version is the more specific one and it appears on more of Apple’s pages, so that is the one to work from. Note what is missing from every version of the sentence: macOS and visionOS are not named at all, and Apple has published no separate statement about either.
What “features that rely on Siri AI” pulls in
The second sentence is the one with the widest reach. It is not limited to the assistant itself, and Apple does not publish a list of the features it catches.
One example is already visible. Apple’s new support document on Audio Intelligence for Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 repeats the exclusion line verbatim, which places Siri Recap, one of the four Audio Intelligence features, inside it for EU users.
Beyond that, Apple leaves the boundary undefined. Any claim about a specific feature being blocked or allowed in the EU that is not on an Apple page is not something Apple has confirmed.
What EU buyers get on September 14
The exclusion is about Siri AI, not about the operating systems. iOS 27 ships on Monday, September 14 as a free update everywhere, and so do iPadOS 27 and watchOS 27.
It is also worth keeping the launch state of Siri AI in view. Apple describes it as a beta across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27, says it is “available in English to start,” and states that it is not available to users under 13. Hardware is unaffected: iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders open on September 12 at 5:00 a.m. PT and the iPhone Duo follows on October 16, with EU countries in both launch waves.
What Apple has not said
- No date, quarter or year for Siri AI arriving in the EU. The word used is “initially.”
- No named law, regulator or negotiation. Apple’s only stated concern is privacy and security.
- No list of which features count as relying on Siri AI.
- No definition of which countries Apple treats as the EU for this purpose.
- No statement about macOS or visionOS, which the footnote does not mention.
Siri AI enters beta on September 14 outside the EU, and Apple’s own footnote is the only source that tells EU customers where they stand. If the wording changes when the September 14 software pages go live, that change will be the story to watch. Our event recap has the rest of what Apple announced on September 9.
