Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple definitely was not their first customer, not by a long shot. They might have been an early large customer, but ARM were just fine before Apple.

The demand for efficient chips wasn't created by Apple, they just happen to be among the best at making them just now.

ARM didn’t exist before Apple. There was a company called Acorn Computers earlier, but ARM was founded as a company in November 1990 as Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. And, in 1993, ARM’s tech was first released in the Apple Newton.

Acorn Computers wouldn’t have continued to exist if it wasn’t for Apple’s funding.

 

[huanbrother]

If China is number one in neutering Apple features, EU is second to none.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

You say “The EU did legislate “stop tracking us”

then follow that with “No tracking without consent.”

So, as I said, the EU did NOT legislate “stop tracking us”. Mainly because there are large companies that said, “Hey, no, we don’t want to stop, soooo make sure we can track them if they say we can. That way, we’ll just make it confusing so that they’ll say yes.”

And, according to recent news, the EC appears to want to remove some of the protections GDPR offers. “For the people”, of course.

EU’s leaked GDPR, AI reforms slated by privacy activists

: Lobbying efforts gain ground as proposals carve myriad holes into regulations

www.theregister.com

 

[turbineseaplane]

And, according to recent news, the EC appears to want to remove some of the protections GDPR offers. “For the people”, of course.

EU’s leaked GDPR, AI reforms slated by privacy activists

: Lobbying efforts gain ground as proposals carve myriad holes into regulations

www.theregister.com

So is the EU against Apple or "playing into big tech hands", as stated in that article?

"Noyb also said certain interpretations of the proposals could allow companies to gather more data from users' personal devices that could then be used to train Big Tech's AI models."

Those AI models/companies include the one Apple wants to partner with on and use (Google).

The heroes & the villains get all mixed up (and intertwined) eventually.

 

[Mainyehc]

I don't think this framing is productive and respectful of those who have different views on this than you.




I'm not sure how I feel about this comparison honestly.

It’s not respectful? Cry me a river, I’m an EU citizen speaking about policies that affect EU citizens first and foremost.

And as for your second point, you don’t, really? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that I wasn’t clear enough. Ever heard the saying “if the product is free, you’re the product”? When I buy an Apple product, I pay a hefty premium, which, I would hope, should help finance the company and preclude it from needing to resort to weird shenanigans with my data to stay afloat. As for data-sucking companies, they have proved, time and time again, that they act in the shadiest of ways. Their entire existence is predicated on shadiness as a business.

And I’m not personally against the whole idea of using advertising to finance certain businesses, newspapers have done that for the longest time and, in fact, they practically invented the practice; it’s the gross invasion of privacy that irks me, that’s where the EU’s disgusting hypocrisy comes in, and sometimes I hate it even more. They’re not just enablers, they’re also trying to fool citizens into thinking they’re the good guys, when they’re most definitely not.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It’s not respectful? Cry me a river

Thank you for your feedback.

 

[surferfb]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but 9to5Mac has a really good overview of why this feature is being removed (and it appears it is being removed, despite speculation in this thread it wasn’t)

Why iOS 26.2 restricts iPhone and Apple Watch Wi-Fi sync in the EU - 9to5Mac

iOS 26.2 drops Wi-Fi sharing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the EU. Here’s why the change is happening.

9to5mac.com

I’d encourage you to read the whole thing, but here are some key quotes:

Before iOS 26.2, that meant Apple Watch got your full historical Wi-Fi list — but that exchange happened privately, device-to-device, without Apple ever seeing or storing it.

If Apple had kept that behavior, it would have been obligated to offer equivalent access to third-party devices. But Apple cannot provide that historical Wi-Fi list, because it doesn’t possess that data in the first place. As a result, Apple is removing historical Wi-Fi syncing for newly paired Apple Watches in the EU.

…

Apple can’t “just ask the user” to share that history with a third party because it doesn’t possess it in the first place. It only ever moves directly between the user’s own devices.

Second, there’s no mechanism by which Apple can ensure third parties keep that Wi-Fi data private. Once they receive it, nothing in the DMA prevents them from storing it, analyzing it, or using it to build detailed behavioral profiles around it.