The US lawsuit seeks to stop Apple from undermining technologies that compete with its own apps in areas such as streaming, messaging and digital payments. The Justice Department also wants to prevent the tech giant from building language into its contracts with developers, accessory makers and consumers that allows it to gain or maintain a monopoly.
That’s similar to the issues over which the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm and top antitrust watchdog, and Apple have been sparring for years.
EU antitrust watchdogs have launched multiple antitrust cases accusing Apple of violating the 27-member bloc’s competition laws, while also imposing tough digital rules aimed at preventing tech companies from dominating digital markets.
Brussels’ efforts will soon begin to affect the way the company does business and the iPhone user experience in Europe. And the changes could signal what’s to come for Apple users in the U.S. — at least if the Justice Department has its way.
Here’s a closer look:
Music streaming
Music streaming users typically couldn’t pay for their Spotify subscriptions directly through their iPhone apps. They couldn’t even be notified by email about subscription prices, promotions and offers from Spotify or other music streaming services. That’s because Apple places strict restrictions on apps that compete with its own Apple Music service.
But when Spotify complained to the European Union, antitrust regulators opened a years-long investigation that resulted in Apple being ordered to stop the behavior and a staggering €1.8 billion ($2 billion) fine aimed at deterring the company from doing so again.
Margrethe Vestager, head of the European Commission’s competition department, said Apple’s practices were “illegal” and “affecting millions of European consumers who could not make a free choice of where, how and at what price to buy music streaming subscriptions.”
Payments
Apple attempted to settle a second EU antitrust case by proposing to allow third-party mobile wallet and payment service providers access to the tap and go payment feature on its iOS operating system.
Apple offered the concession to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm and top antitrust watchdog, after it accused the company in 2022 of abusing its dominant position by restricting access to its mobile payments technology.
The commission examined whether Apple Pay’s rules require online stores to make it a preferred or default option, effectively shutting out a competing payment system. It also explored concerns that it was limiting access to competing payment systems to the contactless payment feature on iPhones.
The commission is still considering the offer. He sought feedback from “stakeholders” on the proposals before making a decision on the case.
Application stores
Apple has long argued that there can only be one app market — its own — on iPhones and other iOS devices. But a sweeping set of new EU regulations that recently came into effect has forced the company to open up its so-called “walled garden” and allow third-party app stores to compete.
The EU’s Digital Markets Act is a sweeping regulation that targets big tech “gatekeepers” with a set of dos and don’ts they must adhere to. One of its goals is to break down closed technology ecosystems that lock consumers into one company’s products or services.
According to the DMA, tech companies will not be able to prevent consumers from connecting with companies outside of their platforms. So Apple was forced to allow people in Europe to download iPhone apps from stores not operated by the US tech giant – a move it had long resisted.
In a sign of that reluctance, EU regulators have said they want to probe Apple over allegations it blocked video game company Epic Games from setting up its own app store. But Apple later reversed course and cleared the way for Fortnite maker Epic to set up its own competing app store.