Apple's U.S. Lobbying Spending Hits Record High as It Fights Antitrust Legislation

Apple spent $2.5 million on lobbying in the first three months of 2022, a record high for the company, reports Bloomberg. Apple bumped up its spending on lobbying to fight back against antitrust legislation that the U.S. government is considering at the current time.

Apple Logo Cash Feature Mint
Apple in the fourth quarter of 2021 spent $1.86 million on lobbying, so its spending is up over 34 percent in the early months of 2022. Apple's previous high was $2.2 million in the second quarter of 2017, a year after Apple's battle with the FBI over iPhone unlocking.

Both the United States and Europe are developing antitrust legislation that would significantly impact the way that tech companies like Apple operate. In the United States, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved multiple bills like the Open App Markets Act, which would require Apple to allow alternate app stores and alternate payment methods on the ‌iPhone‌.

No bills have been passed in the United States, but the Senate is considering them and the European Union has already provisionally agreed on the Digital Markets Act, legislature that is similar to the Open App Markets Act.

Like Apple, Google has also been lobbying against these antitrust bills, spending $2.96 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Thursday September 25, 2025 1:11 pm PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system codenamed "Charismatic," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple smart home hub concept based on rumors This is likely Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system. In a report last month, Gurman said both Apple's rumored smart home hub in 2026 and tabletop robot in 2027 will run the new operating system. He said the software platform ...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% Charge Limit: One Year Later, Was It Worth It?

Wednesday September 24, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line. Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum...
AirPods Pro 3 Newsroom

Apple's 'Back to School' Offer Ends Soon, Now Applies to AirPods Pro 3

Wednesday September 24, 2025 7:20 am PDT by
Apple's annual "Back to School" promotion for students ends soon, so act fast if you want to score free AirPods with the purchase of an eligible new Mac or iPad. Until Tuesday, September 30, college students and qualifying educational staff in the U.S. can receive free AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. This is a $179 value. ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
Apple More Personal Siri Ad

Apple Responds to U.S. Class Action Lawsuit Over Delayed Siri Features

Friday September 26, 2025 6:57 am PDT by
In March, Apple delayed the launch of its personalized Siri features, and soon after the company was hit with multiple class action lawsuits over the situation. The plaintiffs said they never would have purchased an iPhone 16, or would have paid less, had they known Apple's marketing about the Siri features was false. In the U.S., all of the complaints were consolidated into one class...
iphone 17 ceramic shield

Regular iPhone 17's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Friday September 26, 2025 9:01 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the standard iPhone 17 model's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 27W to 28W with these Apple chargers:29W USB-C Power Adapter 30W USB-C Power Adapter 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
maxresdefault

Review: A Week With the iPhone 17 Pro

Friday September 26, 2025 12:51 pm PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 models have been out for a week now, so we thought we'd do a longer-term review of the flagship iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max now that we've been able to spend more time with them. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has a Silver iPhone 17 Pro and a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max, and despite a lot of concern over...

Top Rated Comments

trusso Avatar
45 months ago
Genuine question: is lobbying simply a nicer word for bribery now?

To my mind, lobbying suggests paying a relatively consistent number of people to make arguments to lawmakers for a particular side of an issue. But if there are significant increases in lobbying spending, I’m genuinely curious on where does that money go?

I simply don’t think lawmakers would continue to screw over their constituents so badly if they weren’t getting kickbacks somewhere along the line.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alex00100 Avatar
45 months ago
Can't wait to see how people here find ways to justify this
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ouimetnick Avatar
45 months ago
If only they spent some of that money on fixing Siri, especially Siri on HomePod.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
the8thark Avatar
45 months ago
Tim Cook Can't keep his hats separate. He is wearing his lobbyist hat and his CEO hat at the same time.
Very immoral and should be held to account for it.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alexe Avatar
45 months ago
Apple should just finally get on board with the fact that they've become too big by now to be allowed to behave however the eff they want.

They are a great company and do a lot of cool stuff, but they also abuse their power and behave anti-competitively in more than one way.

Being the most valuable company on earth you have more responsibility than just to your shareholders.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TiggrToo Avatar
45 months ago

Can't wait to see how people here find ways to justify this
Challenge accepted.

Apple are a publicly traded company that first and foremost have a responsibility to their shareholders to maximize their investment.

This is the sort of action designed to do just that.

Now, is it fair to everyone who isn’t a shareholder - well, that’s a whole different story.

But it’s easy to justify.

And no, I don’t like it. I dislike lobbying. Period.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)