Apple has outlined plans to let users copy and paste content between an iPhone and a Windows PC, following an interoperability request from Microsoft in the European Union. The development was spotted by MacRumors in a new entry on Apple's Interoperability Requests page for the EU bloc, and it may be limited, at least initially, to the European market.
Microsoft filed the request on March 25, 2026, arguing that it currently cannot offer a feature comparable to Universal Clipboard, the tool that lets users copy and paste across Apple devices. In the document, Microsoft asks for persistent clipboard access that would enable continuous syncing between an iPhone and a Windows PC, outlining three main use cases: copy text or other supported content on the iPhone and paste it directly on the Windows PC, and vice versa; perform common productivity workflows without needing to foreground an app or take explicit repeated actions to initiate a transfer; and experience clipboard synchronization as a lightweight, continuous capability rather than a manual, app-driven operation.
Microsoft argues that cross-device copy and paste is a foundational productivity interaction users expect to just work, adding that its intent is not to replace or replicate Apple's system experience, but to enable a basic level of cross-device productivity that users already expect when working across devices.
Apple replied on April 27, saying it had decided to move the request to the next phase of its interoperability process, with caveats: it warned that it may ultimately not be feasible or appropriate to provide the solution if it would compromise the integrity of the operating system, and that it had not yet assessed the impact on its intellectual property rights. On June 26, however, Apple confirmed it would develop a solution and explained how it expects the feature to work.
According to Apple, the new mechanism will follow patterns similar to the Accessory Notifications and Accessory Live Activities frameworks introduced in iOS 26.5. It will enable creating an extension to share and import pasteboard items with paired accessories. The system will notify the extension when items are copied into the clipboard; the extension can then use the Accessory Transport Extension framework to share the contents with the accessory using available transports.
Microsoft will need to rely on AccessorySetupKit, the same framework Meta recently took issue with in its own EU interoperability request for AirPods-like pairing support across a user's iPhones and iPads. In Microsoft's case, the kit would be used to obtain permission to share clipboard content with a paired Windows PC, with users required to grant consent once for each device. Apple described the project as a significant engineering effort, planning to complete development by fall 2027 and release the solution in a developer beta shortly after.
The implication here goes beyond user convenience. This move illustrates how the EU's Digital Markets Act is practically shaping the behavior of big platforms, forcing even Apple to open bridges it historically kept closed to protect its ecosystem. Universal Clipboard has always been a differentiator of the Apple environment; letting Microsoft mirror it with Windows weakens that exclusivity. The open question is whether the feature will stay limited to the EU or whether Apple will eventually roll it out globally, as it has done with other changes originally driven by European regulation.
Sources: 9to5Mac, Macworld, PCWorld
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