Apple has lost its court challenge against European Union rules designating it as a “gatekeeper,” according to the European Court of Justice. The ruling mandates that Apple must allow rival services to interoperate with its five app stores as required by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The court deemed Apple’s challenges regarding an investigation of its iMessage service as “inadmissible.”
Apple contested the DMA on three main grounds. The company argued that the requirement for rival hardware—such as earbuds and smartwatches—to be compatible with iPhones posed security risks. Additionally, Apple contested its designation as a “gatekeeper” under the DMA associated with its iOS, macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, and tvOS app stores. Apple also challenged the EU Commission’s investigation into whether iMessage should be classified as a covered service.
The court upheld the EU’s position that all five of Apple’s app stores must be treated as a single core platform service under the DMA. Apple is now required to allow open access to its app stores and cannot favor its own services over competitors.
An Apple spokesperson expressed that the company disagreed with the ruling but did not confirm whether it would appeal. “We firmly believe the DMA’s mandate goes beyond what is lawful and proportionate, threatening to erode decades of privacy and security protections we’ve built and leaving our users vulnerable to new risks,” the spokesperson stated.
Apple has criticized the DMA for causing delays in introducing its Siri AI assistant in the EU. Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook and European technology chief Henna Virkkunen conducted a “constructive” call regarding these issues, as described by an EU Commission spokesperson. This comes amid two pending cases Apple has with EU courts: one challenging the requirement to open iOS to third-party developers, and another appealing a €500 million fine for anti-steering violations imposed in April last year.
