Apple has committed to giving Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses and Quest headsets the same smooth cross-device pairing that AirPods enjoy, marking the first time the company will let third-party accessories tap into its ecosystem-wide pairing infrastructure. The move comes in response to Meta’s October 2025 petition under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act and will roll out in spring 2027, though initially in the EU only.
The new capability, announced on Apple’s EU Interoperability Request page, relies on AccessorySetupKit and Proximity Pairing, systems Apple built to comply with a March 2025 European Commission ruling. Once a Meta device pairs with one iPhone or iPad, it will automatically become available on a user’s other Apple devices without requiring additional setup steps on each one. Until now, third-party hardware has always required manual reconnection on each device, creating friction that Apple’s own accessories avoid.
Meta and Apple have spent months disagreeing on how to implement the feature. Meta wants pairing that works without extra system prompts after the initial connection, and it has objected to Apple’s plan to tie API access to AccessorySetupKit. The company argues that adopting AccessorySetupKit would force it to abandon Core Bluetooth, its existing pairing infrastructure everywhere outside Europe, and that doing so could break the user experience Meta offers today on non-Apple platforms.
Apple has rejected that concern and noted that other developers have already adopted AccessorySetupKit outside the EU without encountering the issues Meta claims would occur. Apple also told Meta that support outside the EU “is something we are still considering”, a qualified commitment at best.
The dispute has not escalated to the DMA’s formal resolution process, which would trigger a 30-working-day review by Apple’s Interoperability Request Review Board. Meta’s request remains in phase three as of Apple’s latest update, meaning the negotiation continues but neither side has invoked the nuclear option yet.
The spring 2027 rollout will create a bifurcated world as EU users with Ray-Ban Meta glasses will enjoy AirPods-like convenience, while everyone else gets basic Bluetooth pairing with all its friction. That mirrors the fate of Apple’s iOS 26.5 proximity pairing feature, which also rolled out EU-first under DMA compliance.
Whether Meta accepts Apple’s current proposal, pushes for global support, or escalates to formal DMA arbitration will become clear over the next six months. For now, Apple has moved from “no way” to “maybe, but only in Europe.”
