Apple plans to give Microsoft the system access it needs to build continuous copy and paste between an iPhone and a Windows PC. The change follows a Microsoft interoperability request in the European Union, but Apple’s timeline means users may have to wait until late 2027 at the earliest.
Apple’s EU interoperability request record shows that Microsoft asked for persistent clipboard access on March 25. Apple confirmed on June 26 that it would develop a solution for sharing and importing iPhone clipboard items with paired devices.
How iPhone-to-Windows copy and paste would work
Microsoft wants users to copy text or other supported content on an iPhone and paste it on a Windows PC, and vice versa. The syncing should run continuously without requiring users to keep an app open or manually start each transfer.
Apple already offers that kind of experience across its own devices through Handoff and Universal Clipboard. Microsoft’s Phone Link supports cross-device clipboard syncing on selected Android phones, but not on iPhone.
Apple’s planned framework would notify a third-party extension when something is copied to the iPhone clipboard. The extension could then send the item to a paired PC through Apple’s Accessory Transport Extension framework.
Pairing and consent would be handled through AccessorySetupKit. Users would approve clipboard sharing once for each paired device, following the permission-focused approach Apple already uses when opening iPhone notifications to third-party accessories in the EU.
Apple is targeting fall 2027
Apple describes the work as a significant engineering effort and expects to complete development by fall 2027. A developer beta would follow, with a public release later.
That schedule makes an iOS 28-era release plausible, but Apple has not named a software version. It also has not said whether the framework will be available worldwide or only in the EU, where Microsoft filed the request.
Apple delivering the framework will not automatically switch on clipboard syncing for Windows users. Microsoft would still need to add support to its software, test it with Apple’s beta, and release the feature. For now, the plan is confirmed, but the actual iPhone-to-PC copy-and-paste experience remains more than a year away.
