I couldn’t wait for the Apple Intelligence segment during last week’s iPhone 16 launch event, hoping that Apple would finally announce rollout plans for Europe. The closest we got to that was when Apple announced additional languages for Apple Intelligence.
When Apple mentioned French and Spanish support, I thought it was a signal that the EU would soon get Apple Intelligence. Then I realized this wasn’t necessarily about France and Spain, which are both part of the EU. French is spoken in plenty of other places, including Canada and Switzerland. Spanish would come in handy in South America and other regions.
A week later, Apple announced another set of languages for Apple Intelligence. This time around, I’m getting stronger EU vibes. I’d still have to wait until sometime in 2025 to get Apple Intelligence in Europe.
Apple mentioned four languages during the iPhone 16 event: Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish. These are coming to Apple Intelligence next year. The company also said Apple Intelligence will be available in localized English for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom this December.
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More than a week later, Apple shared with The Verge that additional languages, including German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and “and others,” will be available in 2025.
If Portuguese would have me confused, as the language is spoken in Brazil and several African and Asian regions, German and Italian are spoken mainly in Germany, Austria, and Italy, three other major EU countries. Then again, Switzerland also has large German and Italian communities, as these are two of the federation’s official languages.
As I said before, I’m getting stronger vibes about an EU Apple Intelligence rollout. Or maybe it’s wishful thinking. Apple Intelligence is, after all, a major selling point for the iPhone 16 series.
But Apple has to launch the phones without any Apple Intelligence features on board. Unless you install iOS 18.1 beta on the iPhone 16 right away, you won’t get access to any Apple AI features. Apple Intelligence will start rolling out to iPhone 15 Pros and iPhone 16 in October, with more features to be added in December and next year.
As for international rollouts, Apple will have to work with the European Commission to bring Apple Intelligence to the EU. Maybe it’ll be easier now that the Commission will have a new team in place. Two of the main proponents of anti-Big-Tech EU laws that impacted the iPhone, including Apple Intelligence, have left the governing body.
Apple also has to work with Chinese authorities to have Apple Intelligence available on iPhone 16 units sold in China. Reports have said this year that Apple will need to pair Apple Intelligence with a local chatbot that will replace ChatGPT. The inclusion of Chinese in the first wave of new languages coming to Apple Intelligence might be a sign that China will get Apple AI next year.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see which key iPhone market will get Apple Intelligence first. Also, I’m already wondering whether iPhone 16 buyers in the EU will get Apple Intelligence before WWDC 2025 or only later. We do have iPhone sideloading and third-party app stores, but AI is what I really want out of my iPhone 16.
