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. Here are the details.
Feature could be limited to the EU
As spotted by MacRumors, a new entry on Apple’s Interoperability Requests in the EU page shows that the company has agreed to develop a solution that allows extensions to share and import iPhone clipboard items with paired devices, including Windows PCs.
In Microsoft’s original request, received on March 25, 2026, the company said it could not currently offer a feature comparable to Universal Clipboard, which allows users to copy and paste content across Apple devices.
Microsoft goes on to ask Apple to provide 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 their iPhone and paste it directly on their Windows PC, and vice versa.
- Perform common productivity workflows without needing to foreground an app or take explicit repeated actions to initiate a transfer.
- Experience clipboard synchronization as a lightweight, continuous capability rather than a manual, app-driven operation.
The company argues that “cross-device copy and paste is a foundational productivity interaction that users expect to ‘just work’ across their primary devices,” 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, in turn, replied on April 27, saying that following an initial assessment of Microsoft’s request, it had decided to move it “to the next phase of our interoperability process.”
Apple also explained:
It may be that, despite our best efforts, it will ultimately not be feasible or appropriate to provide an interoperability solution, including if providing effective interoperability would compromise the integrity of the operating system. We have also not yet conducted an assessment of the impact this request would have on Apple’s intellectual property rights. We will inform you should it not be feasible or appropriate to implement your request. We expect to have an update for you on this phase by 26 June.
Then, on June 26, Apple confirmed that it would develop a solution and outlined how it expects the feature to work.
From Apple’s update:
We will introduce a new solution that will follow similar patterns to the Accessory Notifications and Accessory Live Activities frameworks that were introduced on iOS26.5. It will enable you to create an extension to share and import pasteboard items with paired accessories. The system will notify your extension when items are copied into the clipboard; then your extension can use the Accessory Transport Extension framework to share the contents with your accessory as necessary using available transports.
The company also explained that 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, AccessorySetupKit 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,” saying it plans to complete development by fall 2027 and release the solution in a developer beta shortly afterward, ahead of a full public release.
That timeline suggests the feature could be introduced as part of iOS 28, although Apple has not confirmed which software version will include it.
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