ECG capabilities, available with the Apple Watch Series 4 and later, allow users to quickly take an ECG by simply placing their finger on the Digital Crown and staying still for 30 seconds. Before the feature launches in countries, Apple must retain regulatory approval from the country's respective and appropriate authorities. The feature first launched in the U.S. in 2018 with the Apple Watch Series 4, following FDA approval.
watchOS 8.3 and iOS 15.2 are currently available to developers and public beta testers and can be expected to be launched publicly in the near future. iOS 15.2 includes several new features, including a redesigned Notification Summary, the Apple Music Voice Plan, Legacy Contacts, and more.
The new enhanced Siri AI features that Apple announced today at WWDC 2026 will not be available in the European Union or in China when they are released in beta later this year.
Apple said that while Siri AI will be available for free with the new upcoming OS releases, it will not be available in the EU on iOS and iPadOS until it can find a path forward for regulatory approval.
Apple said ...
A group of 48 China-based iOS developers have filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the country's market regulator over the App Store's commission rates, the South China Morning Post reports.
The developers sent an open letter to China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), alleging that Apple failed to deliver on a promise to offer the lowest commission rate to the...
Apple is in talks to buy memory from Chinese semiconductor companies ChangXin Memory Technologies Co. (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), reports Bloomberg, citing sources with knowledge of the talks. Discussions between Apple and the chipmakers are ongoing, and no deal has been finalized yet.
Financial Times previously reported Apple was looking into working with CXMT and...
One guess is it might be a medical device requirement.
To have it approved per-region, yes, but to do so in a software update? Why not have a server somewhere that answers "I'm in region x requests" with "OK, you're in"?
Strange that they're hardcoding these regions into the OS, rather than having a separate mechanism to decide who gets to use the feature. I guess it's not a huge deal, but rolling out an entire OS upgrade just to add
public bool IsEcgAvailable { switch (user.Region) { case China: // new in 8.3 return true; default: return false; } }
Strange that they're hardcoding these regions into the OS, rather than having a separate mechanism to decide who gets to use the feature. I guess it's not a huge deal, but rolling out an entire OS upgrade just to add
public bool IsEcgAvailable { switch (user.Region) { case China: // new in 8.3 return true; default: return false; } }
seems a bit much.
One guess is it might be a medical device requirement.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.