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Apple is bringing AirPods live translation to Europe after all

Interpreters of Brussels, beware.

After a public spat with the European Commission in September, Apple now says that it plans to roll out its live translation feature for AirPods in the coming month.

“We had to delay the launch while we undertook additional engineering work to comply with European Commission rules,” a spokesperson for Apple said in a statement.

The iPhone maker had previously warned that European users would not be able to access the real-time translation feature through their earbuds due to its interpretation of its obligations under the EU’s rulebook for big tech platforms, the Digital Markets Act.

The EU rules mandate certain features in Apple’s phones and tablets to ensure interoperability with competitor devices. Apple has challenged those obligations in the EU courts.

According to Apple, the firm had to develop a “complicated” solution to comply with the DMA, creating a new audio-routing API so third-party apps and devices could manage simultaneous audio paths. 

The firm takes the position that had it shared the feature sooner, it would have been fined and forced to stop shipping products in the EU.

The spokesperson said that Apple remained deeply concerned that the European Commission’s “aggressive” interpretations of the rules are putting “users at risk and is bad for innovation.”

“In the EU, the aim of our digital legislation is to preserve innovation and freedom of choice,” said a spokesperson for the European Commission. “And this is exactly what we see today.”

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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