Apple Antitrust

By MacRumors Staff
Our latest coverage of antitrust lawsuits or investigations involving Apple.

Apple Antitrust Articles

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Japan Preparing EU-Style Law to Force Apple to Allow App Sideloading and More

Wednesday December 27, 2023 3:11 am PST by
Japan is preparing antitrust legislation to force Apple to allow app sideloading and alternative payment methods for in-app purchases, Nikkei Asia reports. The plans by Japan's Fair Trade Commission focus on combating Apple and Google's dominance in app stores and payments, search, browsers, and operating systems. The regulation could encompass a wide range of changes to Apple's practices,...
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Department of Justice and FTC Looking Into Beeper iMessage Controversy

Friday December 22, 2023 6:35 am PST by
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are intensifying their investigations into Apple's alleged anti-competitive practices following the recent blocking of the iMessage for Android app Beeper Mini, the New York Times reports. Following calls from a bipartisan group of senators for a DOJ investigation into the matter, Beeper founder Eric Migicovsky...
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Apple Declines to Appeal UK Ruling That Revives Antitrust Probe Into Browser and Cloud Gaming Restrictions

Tuesday December 19, 2023 5:48 am PST by
Apple has decided to not appeal a UK court ruling that revives a comprehensive antitrust investigation into its dominance in mobile browsers and cloud gaming, meaning it will commence in January (via Open Web Advocacy). In late November, London's Court of Appeal effectively reversed a previous verdict that had halted the probe, reinforcing the authority of the UK's Competition and Markets...
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Apple's iMessage May Dodge EU Regulatory Demand for Interoperability

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:36 am PST by
Apple's iMessage chat service may dodge EU regulatory demands for platform interoperability after all. Bloomberg reports that an investigation by the bloc's antitrust watchdog has tentatively concluded that the chat service is not popular enough with business users to warrant being subject to the new rules. The EU has been working on legislation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that would ...
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UK Revives Antitrust Probe Into Apple's Browser and Cloud Gaming Restrictions

Thursday November 30, 2023 9:07 am PST by
Apple faces a renewed comprehensive investigation into its dominance in mobile browsers and cloud gaming following a ruling by London's Court of Appeal (via Bloomberg). The court's decision effectively reverses a previous verdict that had halted the probe, reinforcing the authority of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). In November 2022, the CMA launched an investigation into...
European Commisssion

Apple Files Legal Challenge Against EU Law as Sideloading Requirement Looms

Friday November 17, 2023 7:09 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 8:44 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 4:57 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 9:01 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 6:28 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 5:38 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 2:52 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 3:06 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 2:04 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 8:53 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 5:29 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 10:51 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 1:30 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 5:44 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 3:29 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...