The new operating system generation is here, the new iPhones are in stores – and the promise Apple used to promote both doesn't apply to German iPhones. Siri AI only works on Macs and Apple Vision Pro in Germany, and even there only in English. In addition, there's a new tracking feature and a proposed law on youth protection that affect Apple's platforms in a completely different way.
On Monday, Apple released six operating systems at once, from iOS 27 to visionOS 27. The first betas of the next point version followed on Wednesday, and on Friday saw the sales launch of the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5.
In between were a legislative proposal from Brussels, a hearing in London, and new market figures for Apple's earbuds. That was Apple Week, from September 14th to 20th, 2026.
🔥 Story of the week: Siri AI launches – but not on German iPhones
What Apple announced in June as a relaunch of its assistant has been available since Monday – as a beta and initially only in English. In the EU, Siri AI will not run on iPhones, iPads, or Apple Watches at launch. The exceptions are macOS 27 and visionOS 27: the assistant will also run on Macs and Apple Vision Pro in these regions. This restriction does not apply in Switzerland.
Apple justifies the postponement with the interoperability requirements of the Digital Markets Act. These requirements apply to iOS and iPadOS, both of which are designated as core platform services, and the Apple Watch falls under this category due to its connection to the paired iPhone. macOS and visionOS are not explicitly named – the restriction thus follows precisely the line drawn from the DMA obligations for iPhone and iPad.
For German-speaking regions, language is at least as important. French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish are slated to follow in October and are already included in the first beta of iOS 27.2. Apple has not announced a date for German. Apple Intelligence itself remains unaffected and will continue to function in German.
The code demonstrates an open architecture
Alongside the release, code has surfaced in iOS 27 and macOS 27 revealing the extent to which Siri AI can be opened up to third-party models. Non-public system libraries describe two methods: In one, a third-party model, such as a Siri extension, acts as a proxy and returns tasks to the assistant whenever system functions are needed.
In the other scenario, a third-party model completely replaces Apple's server model – including planning instructions and tool lists – while Siri only provides the interface and voice. This finding is remarkable because interoperability is precisely the point at the heart of the dispute over the assistant on iPhone and iPad.
A new question arises when setting up
Users setting up Siri AI will now see a new permission request for Apple's model training. The same information is collected as before, but with consent, voice recordings and text will also be incorporated into the training of the Foundation models. Users who have previously consented will be asked again.
Because the query depends on Siri AI, it only appears on Mac and Apple Vision Pro in this country. It runs during setup and is therefore easily overlooked.
💡 Rumor of the week: Apple is expected to pay significantly more for storage in 2027
Apple has reportedly accepted Samsung's memory prices for the first quarter of 2027. These are said to be just under $2 per gigabit of DRAM and just under $0.33 per gigabit of NAND – up to 40 percent more than in the third quarter of 2026.
The reported conditions for 2027 come from two sources: Digitimes from Taiwan and the Chinese business portal Jiemian. Both report from within the Asian automotive supply industry, but neither cites a specific contract document. Digitimes also expects the supply and demand imbalance to worsen next year.
This would affect devices manufactured from the beginning of the year onwards – not the prices currently listed in the store.
📊 Number of the week: 16.8 million
According to Omdia, this is how many true wireless earbuds Apple shipped to retailers in the second quarter of 2026 – 1.2 percent more than a year earlier, in an overall market that shrank for the first time since 2023. With a market share of 20.5 percent, Apple's is almost twice that of Xiaomi in second place.
| Segment | Q2 2026 | Change from the previous year |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 16.8 million. | +1,2 % |
| Open-back headphones, all providers | 11.1 million. | +12 % |
| Total market True Wireless | 82.1 million. | -0.7 % |
The growth is in open-back earbuds, which leave the ear canal exposed. Apple doesn't appear in this ranking because Omdia classifies its open-back AirPods as a classic design. Apple alone ships more of these than all other open-back earbud manufacturers combined. The figures cover the period from April to June, prior to the launch of the AirPods 5 on September 18th.
👎 Flop of the week: No reference image from the EU
Apple's reference image is designed to prove the authenticity of a photograph. Apple's technical document from Wednesday describes the process: The sensor signs the pixels directly during capture, Private Cloud Compute develops the reference image from this, two timestamps define the capture window, and individual photos or entire sensors can be revoked.
No one in the EU can create precisely this proof at launch. While reference images can be developed and displayed with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27, capturing images in reference mode is disabled. This restriction does not apply in Switzerland, and the function is completely absent in China.
This specifically affects the camera of the new Pro models, which Apple highlighted in its keynote – and a feature whose usefulness is obvious in an age of digitally generated images. This adds to the list of Apple features missing in the EU, and it's not simply a matter of convenience.
📰 What Else Mattered
The new devices are now available and require an update. The new models have been on sale in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since Friday. The iPhone and Apple Watch come with an older version of the operating system pre-installed and automatically download the initial version during setup. The first reviews of the iPhone 18 Pro primarily highlight the price difference: Upgrading from 256 GB to 2 TB of storage on the iPhone 18 Pro costs an additional €1,500 – more than a second base model for €1,449. Initial reviews of the Series 12 and Ultra 4 are also available.
iOS 27.2 arrives before iOS 27.1. On Wednesday, Apple released the first beta of iOS 27.2 along with the other 27.2 systems; there was no testing phase for 27.1. We suspect the skipped testing phase for iOS 27.1 is due to the iPhone Duo, which, according to Apple, ships with this version. The beta includes a new Health app for testing, which, according to Apple, is not part of the final 27.2 release and initially launches only in US English. It also includes profiles and child profiles in the Apple TV app on the iPhone, with German age ratings of 0, 6, 12, 16, and 18 years.
Tracking permissions will become mandatory in Germany. Following agreements with several European competition authorities, Apple is introducing an alternative tracking permission method with iOS 27.2. App providers in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and Romania must use it; in Austria, they can choose to use it; Switzerland is not included. Apps can request permission again after one year.
The EU wants to restrict social media accounts to those aged 15 and over. With the KIDS Act, the Commission presented its proposal on Thursday: no accounts for those under 15 on services with risk factors, and for 13- and 14-year-olds, only a mini-account set up by their parents with a maximum time limit of one hour. App stores would have to assign age ratings to every app and allow the EU's age verification app. Apple's own age limits for an Apple account are 16 in Germany, 14 in Austria, and 13 in Switzerland, which is not covered by the proposal. According to the Commission, 17 member states already have their own draft legislation; Parliament and Council still need to approve the proposal.
A court is examining London's silence regarding the iCloud backdoor. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal heard arguments on Thursday concerning whether the British government should continue to refuse to confirm or deny that it has compelled Apple to access encrypted iCloud data. WhatsApp and Google have testified that they have not received such an order. The court will issue its ruling later, with the main hearing not expected until 2027.
iOS 27 addresses security vulnerabilities. The security document for iOS 27 covers everything from the kernel to the camera: one flaw could grant an app root privileges, another allowed the execution of malicious code via Bluetooth. A team from Ruhr University Bochum reported a bypass of IPSec authentication in telephony, while a group from Graz University of Technology contributed to a bug in the mDNSResponder network service. This time, AI tools are also mentioned in the acknowledgments, and those who remain on iOS 26 will receive most of the fixes with iOS 26.7.
💬 My Take
If you add up what iOS 27 actually delivers in this country, you're left with a decent maintenance update. The flagship feature, however, runs precisely on devices that nobody ever takes out of their pocket – and only if you switch them to English.
From my perspective, the language issue is the bigger stumbling block than the DMA. Even if Apple and the Commission reach an agreement tomorrow, Siri AI would still be without a release date for German-speaking users. The five languages slated to follow in October are already in beta testing – German isn't among them, and that has nothing to do with Brussels.
Overall, this week in Germany brought more new queries than new features: approval for model training, a tracking query that can be repeated annually, and the prospect of age verification in the App Store. Missing, however, were the assistant on the iPhone and the camera's authenticity verification – precisely the two things Apple is using to market this generation.
📚 From Our Archive
Selling your iPhone safely: How to prepare your device correctly – With the start of sales, many old iPhones are changing hands. Before erasing the data, there are several steps to take, the order of which is important – since this weekend, this also includes preparing the iPhone 18 Pro Max for shipping.
iPhone Update Problems: All Solutions at a Glance – Anyone who switched to iOS 27 this week or is setting up a new iPhone will inevitably encounter the first update. If the download gets stuck or the installation fails, the same steps usually help.
🔭 What's Coming Next Week
The Mac mini with the M6 and M5 Pro processors, as well as the Mac Studio with the M5 Max and M5 Ultra, will be available on Tuesday. Initial graphics benchmarks for both chips are already available, and further measurements are expected with the arrival of the first retail units. In the current Mac lineup, the Mac mini starts at €1,049, and the Mac Studio at €2,999.
The Everest drama "Tenzing" opens the Zurich Film Festival with its European premiere on Thursday, and will be available on Apple TV on October 16. Apple also plans to release the developer tools for the iPhone Duo by the end of September.
A week with a new system generation, a handful of new devices on the market and the next beta on top of that – and yet, in this country, it has mainly shown what is missing.
Have you already switched your Mac to English to try out Siri AI, or are you waiting until the assistant is available in German and on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments which language your Mac is currently speaking.
Until next Sunday, Apfelpatient wishes you a relaxing read and a good start to the week.
