After the WWDC 2024, there was a function called iPhone Mirroring, which that you can use your iPhone from your Mac, after downloading MacOS Sequoia and I tried, it doesn't work, it only says "iPhone Mirroring is not available in your country or region.", every time even after MacOS 15.5, it still doesn't work. I know that in Italy and other countries doesn't wrk either because of EU, but I still don't know why.
MacBook Air, macOS 15.5
Step1— wrote:
iPhone mirroring does not work in the EU because Apple is afraid it will be required to add “Android Mirroring” as well.
Or worse, the EU may require Apple to allow other computers to mirror an iPhone. You have already seen where the third party App Stores have resulted in reduced security/privacy protections by allowing side loading, I think you could imagine the security implications if a device that was not managed by Apple could mirror an iPhone.
Anthony_AppleFan wrote:
I know that in Italy and other countries doesn't wrk either because of EU, but I still don't know why.
If someone is selling a product, they don't have to justify why they don't want to sell it in a particular location or from a particular retailer. Sales are on the seller's terms, whatever they are.
Government regulators in the EU have been taking the lead on forcing Apple to sell on the government's terms instead. In the case of the App Store, with 3rd party, EU developers, Apple has no choice. Apple has to open up a bit and provide any EU developer with customer's private information and payment information, to do whatever they want with. Hopefully, all those EU developers will follow EU regulations as well as Apple does.
EU government regulators have also been successful in controlling how Apple's devices interact with other devices, by way of forcing Apple to use USB-C on iPhones.
Therefore, the most logical guess is that Apple is afraid that EU government regulators would force them to open up iPhone Mirroring, making remote hacks of people's iPhones much easier.
lkrupp wrote:
Apple doesn't want to get hit with another massive fine because of something else the EU regulators come up with.
You make it sound quite sudden, but the fines would only come after a long period of non-compliance and investigation. Case in point - the commission has stated that it does not consider the terms for publishing apps in alternative app stores to be compliant with the DMA back in 2024 when they handed out the fine for blocking Spotify etc from using their own payment systems. That itself came after 9 months of investigation, during which Apple was welcome to, and probably did consult with the commission. There has been no further fine relating to punitive core platform fees and I'm not aware of one in the pipeline.
So they could publish the withdrawn features and remove them when the commission complained about them. But I don't think that would happen.
escalinci wrote:
So they could publish the withdrawn features and remove them when the commission complained about them. But I don't think that would happen.
Or they could not include the features in the first place and not bother with litigation/compliance checks. That seems to be the approach Apple has taken. Let the EU come out and say that there would be no violation with a feature first, instead of after the fact. You noticed Apple Intelligence was not available at all in the EU at launch and then some of the features were made available. Maybe with some assurances from the Commission, more features will be available in the future. That seems to be the logical approach instead of releasing a feature that may later have to pulled.
escalinci wrote:
I don't really see a situation where screen mirroring becomes a competition issue. Could it unfair to PCs? No, they have a greater market share. And android phones have all sorts of third-party apps that can provide screen mirroring to a mac.
Are you an attorney working for Apple or something? That has been Apple's arguments in the past and Apple has been losing all of those arguments.
I get your point, but that's the whole point. The EU has rules that Apple has the dominant market position. They say that the fact that PCs and android exist is irrelevant. According to the EU, PCs and and androids don't matter. If Apple makes this feature available in the EU, they will be forced to allow those PC and android developers to have remote access to anyones's iPhone, and not just in the EU.
Saying it's because of legislation protecting EU consumers is only relevant if it could reasonably impact this feature. Search, advertising and digital purchases are examples of areas where regulation might bite.
First of all, it's not legislation. It's court rulings. The EU writes legislation. Apple's lawyers study that legislation. Apple runs its business in a manner that Apple feels complies with said legislation. Then a court comes along and fines Apple 300 trillion euros or something.
Secondly, it's not about protecting EU customers. It's about protecting the huge fraud industries. The EU is quickly becoming a global haven for apps and business practices that would be unethical and flat-out illegal anywhere else in the world.
That puts Apple in a difficult spot. There are hundreds of millions of honest EU customers who have nothing to do with that fraud. Apple wants to offer its products to those people. So Apple has had to learn to ignore that EU legislation and focus on potential worst-case scenario court rulings. That means if there is a feature that could be exploited by dishonest developers, and enabled by corrupt EU judges, then Apple can't make that feature available in the EU.
Anthony_AppleFan wrote:
After the WWDC 2024, there was a function called iPhone Mirroring, which that you can use your iPhone from your Mac, after downloading MacOS Sequoia and I tried, it doesn't work, it only says "iPhone Mirroring is not available in your country or region.", every time even after MacOS 15.5, it still doesn't work.
I know that in Italy and other countries doesn't wrk either because of EU, but I still don't know why.
see if there is anything here—
Control your iPhone from your Mac
iPhone Mirroring: Use your iPhone from your Mac
The current stable release of Sequoia including bug fixes, security updates is macOS 15.5
Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support
Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support
The current stable release of iOS including bug fixes, security updates is iOS 18.5
Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support
if it is not available it is not available...
"iPhone Mirroring is not available in your country or region."
You can submit your Apple Feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple
Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone
See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.
Contact Apple Support - Apple Support
There are a lot of features coming that will not be available in the EU because of EU regulations. Apple doesn't want to get hit with another massive fine because of something else the EU regulators come up with.
iPhone mirroring does not work in the EU because Apple is afraid it will be required to add “Android Mirroring” as well.
I don't really see a situation where screen mirroring becomes a competition issue. Could it unfair to PCs? No, they have a greater market share. And android phones have all sorts of third-party apps that can provide screen mirroring to a mac.
Saying it's because of legislation protecting EU consumers is only relevant if it could reasonably impact this feature. Search, advertising and digital purchases are examples of areas where regulation might bite.
FWIW, the reason is immaterial. It may or may not be available in the future.
Why iPhone Mirroring is not working in Europe?
