Apple Antitrust

By MacRumors Staff

Apple Antitrust Articles

European Commisssion

Apple Files Legal Challenge Against EU Law as Sideloading Requirement Looms

Friday November 17, 2023 6:09 am PST by
Apple today filed a legal challenge against the European Union's Digital Markets Act ahead of the impending requirement to enable app sideloading on its devices (via Reuters). The Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect on November 1, 2022, requires "gatekeeper" companies to open up their services and platforms to other companies and developers. The DMA will have a significant...
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Apple Argued Safari Is Three Different Browsers to Avoid Regulation

Saturday November 4, 2023 7:44 am PDT by
Apple recently claimed that Safari is three different browsers in effort to avoid regulation in the European Union (via The Register). The claim came as part of a response to the European Union in August, just before the European Commission designated many of Apple's iOS, App Store, and Safari as gatekeeper platforms. This classification means that Apple now has to ensure that these...
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EU Asks iMessage Users and Rivals If Service Should Be Regulated

Tuesday October 10, 2023 3:57 am PDT by
EU antitrust regulators have asked Apple's users and rivals to rate the importance of Apple's iMessage and Microsoft's Bing versus competing services, reports Reuters. According to people familiar with the matter, the European Commission sent out the questionnaires earlier this month, asking if there was anything specific to iMessage and Microsoft's Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising that ...
European Commisssion

EU Chief Calls on Apple CEO Tim Cook to Open Hardware and Software Ecosystem

Tuesday September 26, 2023 8:01 am PDT by
EU industry chief Thierry Breton today publicly called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to open the company's ecosystem of hardware and software to rivals (via Reuters). Following an in-person meeting with Cook earlier today in Brussels, Belgium, Breton told Reuters:The next job for Apple and other Big Tech, under the DMA (Digital Markets Act) is to open up its gates to competitors. Be it the...
European Commisssion

Apple's App Store, Safari, and iOS Officially Designated 'Gatekeepers' in EU

Wednesday September 6, 2023 5:28 am PDT by
Apple's App Store, Safari browser, and iOS operating system have today formally been designated as "gatekeepers" in the European Union, an official classification that requires adherence to strict new regulations (via Bloomberg). The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) seeks to curtail the power of major tech companies. Designated "gatekeeper" platforms will now face prohibition against favoring...
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Apple Argues iMessage Isn't Popular Enough in the EU to Be Regulated

Tuesday September 5, 2023 4:38 am PDT by
Apple argues that iMessage is not sufficiently popular to be classified as a "gatekeeper" under EU law, the Financial Times reports. The discussion comes ahead of the publication of the first list of services to be regulated by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The legislation introduces new rules that apply to tech giants that meet its "gatekeeper" criteria and force them to open up their...
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Apple Facing $1 Billion UK Antitrust Lawsuit Over App Store Fees

Tuesday July 25, 2023 1:52 am PDT by
Apple has become the target of a £785 million ($1 billion) class action lawsuit on behalf of over 1,500 developers in the UK over its App Store fees, reports TechCrunch. The suit accuses Apple of abusing a dominant position by charging a 15% to 30% fee on in-app sales in the ‌App Store‌, a policy that has been criticized by antitrust regulators in other countries. It also argues UK...
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Apple Subject to 'Special Abuse Control' Says German Antitrust Regulator [Updated]

Wednesday April 5, 2023 2:06 pm PDT by
Germany's Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office or FCO) antitrust authority today announced that Apple is subject to "extended abuse control" under the German Competition Act, which means that German regulators can prevent the company from engaging in "anti-competitive practices." FCO president Andreas Mundt said that Apple's economic position is not adequately controlled by competition,...
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UK Probe Into Apple's Mobile Browser Restrictions Shut Down After Apple Argues Regulators Waited Too Long to Open Investigation

Friday March 31, 2023 1:04 pm PDT by
The UK's Competition and Market Authority (CMA) will not be looking into Apple's policies on mobile browsers and cloud gaming services after Apple won an appeal that will force the UK regulators to drop the investigation, reports Reuters. The CMA in November launched an investigation into the cloud gaming and mobile browser restrictions put in place by both Apple and Google, suggesting that...
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Apple Responds to EU's Decision to Narrow Antitrust Case Prompted by Spotify

Tuesday February 28, 2023 7:53 am PST by
The European Commission today announced it has narrowed its antitrust investigation into Apple's rules for streaming music apps. In a revised Statement of Objections sent to Apple, the Commission said it will no longer challenge Apple's requirement for apps to use the App Store's in-app purchase system for digital goods and services. The investigation began in 2019 after Spotify filed an...
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Google Allegedly Pays Apple Portion of Chrome Search Revenue as Part of Secretive Non-Compete Deal

Friday February 17, 2023 4:29 am PST by
Google allegedly pays Apple a portion of all search revenue from Chrome for iOS in what appears to be a non-compete deal, The Register reports. According to a source said to be familiar with the matter who spoke to The Register, Google has been paying Apple a portion of search revenue generated by Chrome users on iOS in return for being the default search provider in Safari and other...
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U.S. Justice Department Ramps Up Apple Investigation Amid Antitrust Concerns

Wednesday February 15, 2023 9:51 am PST by
The U.S. Department of Justice has escalated its antitrust probe into Apple in recent months, according to The Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the report claims additional litigators have been assigned to the case and new requests have been submitted for documents and consultations with companies connected to the investigation. As part of the probe, the report claims the Justice...
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Google Working on Browser for iOS That Would Break Apple's App Store Rules

Saturday February 4, 2023 12:30 am PST by
Google's Chromium developers are working on an experimental web browser for iOS that would break Apple's browser engine restrictions, The Register reports. The experimental browser, which is being actively pursued by developers, uses Google's Blink engine. Yet if Google attempted to release it on the App Store, it would not pass Apple's App Review process. Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules...
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Biden Administration Report Recommends Sweeping Changes to Apple's Ecosystem

Friday February 3, 2023 4:44 am PST by
A report commissioned by the Biden administration this week recommended new legislation to make major changes to Apple's platform restrictions and App Store policies. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is the president's main advisor on telecommunications and Internet policy. In April last year, the NTIA announced that it had launched an investigation into...
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Apple 'Playing Hard-Ball' in Appeal Against UK's Investigation Into Platform Restrictions

Sunday January 22, 2023 2:29 am PST by
Apple has filed an appeal against an investigation by the UK's competition authority into the company's dominance of mobile browsers and restrictions on cloud gaming (via Reuters). In November, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a market investigation reference into Apple and Google's cloud gaming and mobile browser restrictions. The CMA has examined Apple and Google's "effe...
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UK Begins Market Investigation into Apple and Google's Mobile Dominance

Tuesday November 22, 2022 3:37 am PST by
The UK's competition watchdog has begun its investigation into the market dominance of Apple and Google's mobile browsers, months after it said it was considering a high-level probe. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced Tuesday that responses to its June consultation had revealed "substantial support" for a full investigation into how Apple and Google dominate the market and ...
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Apple and Epic Games Return to Court to Fight Over App Store Rules

Monday November 14, 2022 11:44 am PST by
The ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic Games resumed today, with lawyers for both companies meeting in the United States Court of Appeals to attempt to get the initial ruling from last year overturned. The ‌Epic Games‌ v. Apple saga started way back in 2020 when ‌Epic Games‌ started allowing Fortnite players to make purchases directly in the app, skirting the in-app purchase rules....
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Amazon and Apple 'Colluded' to Make iPhone and iPad More Expensive, Says Antitrust Lawsuit

Wednesday November 9, 2022 8:50 am PST by
Apple and Amazon worked together to raise the price of iPhones and iPads by eliminating third-party Amazon sellers who offered Apple products at a lower cost, according to a new antitrust lawsuit filed today in Washington. The complaint, filed by Hagens Berman law firm, says that Apple and Amazon had an "unlawful horizontal agreement" that reduced the "competitive threat posed by third-party ...
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Senator Asks FTC and DOJ for 'Rigorous Oversight' Into Apple, Google, and Amazon's Expansion Into Automobiles

Wednesday November 2, 2022 9:53 am PDT by
United States Senator Elizabeth Warren this week penned a letter [PDF] to antitrust officials at the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, requesting that they investigate "Big Tech's expansion into the automotive industry." Warren specifically called out Google, Apple, and Amazon, saying that the companies are setting themselves up to be a "one-stop shop for automakers," for data...
European Commisssion

New EU Law Could Force Apple to Allow Other App Stores, Sideloading, and iMessage Interoperability

Tuesday November 1, 2022 8:05 am PDT by
New EU rules came into force today that could compel Apple to let users access third-party app stores and permit app sideloading on iPhones and iPads, among other sweeping changes designed to make the digital sector fairer and more competitive. Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the rules will apply to tech giants that meet its "gatekeeper" criteria and force them to open up their various...