Apple fans have been waiting for it: This Friday the long-anticipated AirPods Pro 3 finally launch worldwide. Apple showed them off at its September event with a set of upgrades, but the most talked-about feature is without doubt real-time live translation through the earbuds. Paired with an iPhone running Apple Intelligence, the AirPods can translate conversations on the fly in multiple languages.

Here comes the catch: if you live in the EU, the feature simply won’t work. Apple has confirmed on its own support page that “live translation with AirPods is not available if you are in the EU and your Apple account country or region is also in the EU.”

According to Apple, this block is tied to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Regulators require that certain Apple services and functions remain interoperable with competitor devices. Apple chose to disable the feature in Europe instead of adapting it: A move heavily criticized by the European Commission. A spokesperson made it clear: “The DMA does not impede the launch of new products in EU markets. On the contrary, it preserves innovation and freedom of choice.”

For users outside of Europe, the rollout is much brighter. Live translation will initially support English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, with Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese following later this year. That makes the AirPods Pro 3 a powerful travel companion – just not if you bought them in Ireland or anywhere else in the EU.

This isn’t the first time Apple hinted at limiting features in Europe because of the DMA, but now we see it happening in practice. The result is frustrating: EU customers pay the same price as everyone else but get fewer features.

So yes: The AirPods Pro 3 are finally here, but one of the coolest innovations is missing for us. If you were hoping to walk through Dublin, Berlin or Paris and let your AirPods translate conversations instantly, you’ll need to wait until Apple and Brussels sort it out.