Apple Intelligence will be blocked for almost two billion people – and we don't know for how long

iPhone 16 preorders have opened, and Apple fans worldwide are heading in their thousands to the company’s online store to secure an iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone 16 Pro Max.

This year’s biggest upgrade is Apple Intelligence, the forthcoming suite of advanced AI features coming to iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

However, two regions with a combined population of nearly two billion people are set to lose out on Apple Intelligence entirely. Apple won’t be bringing Apple Intelligence to the EU, and we can now confirm that Apple Intelligence won’t be available on iPhones sold in mainland China either.

Apple refers to this region as China mainland, which we gather does not include the territories controlled by the Republic of China, most notably Taiwan, nor the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

The EU

The situation for Apple Intelligence in the EU is complex to say the least. As we previously reported, Apple won’t bring Apple Intelligence to the EU because of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a piece of EU legislation designed to protect competition and prevent monopolies.

Apple has begrudgingly adhered to the DMA through EU-exclusive features like app sideloading, without offering the same to the rest of the world.

Apple told us in June that the DMA has created “regulatory uncertanties” that make launching Apple Intelligence in the EU unfeasible “…due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), we do not believe that we will be able to roll out […] Apple Intelligence to our EU users this year”

Apple Intelligence will not be available while physically in the EU so long as your Apple ID country/region is also within the EU. Both of these conditions need to be satisfied for Apple Intelligence to be blocked.

This means that visitors to the EU, who have their Apple ID country/region set outside the EU, will be able to use Apple Intelligence during their visit, though we haven’t been able to test this yet.

And EU-bought iPhones with EU Apple ID addresses are perfectly capable of using Apple Intelligence elsewhere, so long as the device language and Siri language are set to a supported language (currently only US English).

Users can change their iPhone device language in the Settings app, by going to General > Language & Region > Add Language.

Changing Siri’s language can be done in the Settings app also, by going to Siri & Search > Language.

Changing your Apple ID region temporarily isn’t a viable workaround either, as this requires you to cancel any subscriptions and revokes access to apps purchased in the previous region’s app store.

As MacRumors reported in August, at least one beta version of iOS 18.1 has allowed users in the EU to test out Apple Intelligence.

Mainland China

The situation in mainland China is stricter. Currently, iPhones purchased in mainland China are unable to use Apple Intelligence in any part of the world, and iPhones purchased elsewhere are unable to access Apple Intelligence while in mainland China.

According to Reuters, the Chinese government mandates that generative-AI chatbots – which will soon describe Siri – need to be vetted before release.

And as the South China Morning Post reports, the 188 large language models currently approved by the People’s Republic of China all originate from within the country. There are no signs yet of when, or if, Apple Intelligence will be allowed to function in mainland China.

Apple clearly anticipates that Apple Intelligence will come to both the EU and mainland China eventually. The company has confirmed that, once available, supported iPhone models in the EU and mainland China will be able to activate and use Apple Intelligence.

For the latest updates on Apple’s upcoming AI feature set, check out our Apple Intelligence coverage – and be sure to check out our iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max hubs for all you need to know about Apple’s new iPhone lineup.

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