[Rinzler89]

>It’s a giant finger for devs and consumers in Europe.

If EU would have a VC sector anywhere near the US or even Chinese ones, this is actually the perfect time and market opportunity for a local EU competitor to come out and launch a privacy focused smartphone that's compliant with local market regulations and also includes the AI features that Apple refuses to release out of spite.

Apple only does shit like this because they know that the alternatives EU has in the consumer facing smartphone tech space is weak AF and poses no significant competition and no threat to them, unlike in China where Huawei and Xiaomi are ready to pounce if Apple were to slip.

Regulations are good, but having domestic alternative competitors is even better, and the EU is lacking here and Apple knows this hence it can play chicken.

[isodev]

I will be more than happy to get additional alternatives. Apple is big here, but not as dominant as it is in the US. It won’t be a big deal for folks to skip an upgrade cycle or turn to Samsung, Fairphone and others.

[Rinzler89]

Apple users in the EU aren't going to abandon their iPhones, ecosystem ties and AppStore purchases en masse, and move to Android or some boutique maker like Fairphone just because Apple disabled AI feature for them. A handful might but not enough to scare Apple.

Once people are tied to an ecosystem for many years, they're not just gonna abandon it without a major life inconvenience.