EU Plans to Regulate Apple Delayed to Spring 2023 Amid Preparations to Enforce New Rules

The European Union's wide-reaching new regulations to target Apple and other big tech companies will come into effect in early 2023, according to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager (via TechCrunch).

European Commisssion
The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) could force Apple to make major changes to the App Store, Messages, FaceTime, third-party browsers, and Siri in Europe. For example, it could be forced to allow users to install third-party app stores and sideload apps, give developers the ability to closely interoperate with Apple's own services and promote their offers outside the ‌App Store‌ and use third-party payment systems, and access data gathered by Apple.

One of the more recent additions to the DMA is the requirement to make messaging, voice-calling, and video-calling services interoperable. The interoperability rules theoretically mean that Meta apps like WhatsApp or Messenger could request to interoperate with Apple's iMessage framework, and Apple would be forced to comply.

In a speech at the International Competition Network conference in Berlin, Vestager said that the DMA "will enter into force next spring and we are getting ready for enforcement as soon as the first notifications come in." The DMA was originally supposed to come into effect in October 2022, suggesting that there has been a slight delay in preparing for the new legislation. Vestager also mentioned that the first enforcements could follow soon after the regulation is in place, and discussed the EU's ongoing preparations:

This next chapter is exciting. It means a lot of concrete preparations. It's about setting up new structures within the Commission, pooling resources... based on relevant experience. It's about hiring staff. It's about preparing the IT systems. It's about drafting further legal texts on procedures or notification forms. Our teams are currently busy with all these preparations and we're aiming to come forward with the new structures very soon.

EU lawmakers provisionally approved the DMA in March. The European Parliament and the European Council must give final approval to the legislation before it can come into force. Big tech companies that meet the criteria to be designated a "gatekeeper" must declare their status to the European Commission within three months after the regulation comes into effect, and there is an additional two month period for the EU to confirm a gatekeeper's designation, meaning that it may still be some time before companies face enforcement measures.

Apple is almost certain to be classified as a "gatekeeper," due to the size of its annual turnover in the EU, its ownership and operation of platforms with a large number of active users, and its "entrenched and durable position" due to how long it has met these criteria, and will therefore be subject to the rules set out in the DMA.

Beyond the European Union, Apple's ecosystem is increasingly coming under intense scrutiny by governments around the world, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and more, with a clear appetite from global regulators to explore requirements around app sideloading and interoperability. Vestager suggested that a significant level of cooperation is already occurring as part of preparations for the DMA, and urged national competition authorities around the world to closely cooperate:

For that next chapter, close cooperation with competition authorities, both inside and outside the EU will be crucial. This is irrespective of whether they apply traditional enforcement tools or have developed their own specific regulatory instruments, like the German digital regulation. Close cooperation will be necessary because we will not be short of work and we will not be short of novel services or practices to look at. And the efforts needed at a global scale are enormous. So we will need to work together more than ever.

Many of you will be watching the roll out of the DMA with great interest. This will be a mutual learning experience. The EU has worked hard to find the right balance, and I think we have come up with something that is tough but also very fair. It goes without saying that the more we, as an international competition community, are able to harmonize our approach, the less opportunity there will be for global tech giants to exploit enforcement gaps between our jurisdictions.

The DMA says that gatekeepers who ignore the rules will face fines of up to 10 percent of the company's total worldwide annual turnover, or 20 percent in the event of repeated infringements, as well as periodic penalties of up to 5 percent of the company's total worldwide annual turnover. Where gatekeepers perpetrate "systematic infringements," the European Commission will be able to impose additional sanctions, such as obliging a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it, including units, assets, intellectual property rights, or brands, or banning a gatekeeper from acquiring any company that provides services in the digital sector.

So far, Apple has heavily resisted attempts by governments to enforce changes to its operating systems and services. For example, Apple simply chose to pay a $5.5 million fine every week for ten weeks in the Netherlands instead of obey orders from the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) to allow third-party payment systems in Dutch dating apps. Earlier this week, the ACM announced that Apple's rules surrounding Dutch dating apps remain insufficient.

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

maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Announces 13 Automakers Planning to Offer iPhone Car Keys

Friday June 27, 2025 11:42 am PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple said that 13...
anker power bank recall

PSA: Anker Recalls Multiple Power Banks Due to Fire Risk

Friday June 27, 2025 4:16 pm PDT by
Popular accessory maker Anker this month launched two separate recalls for its power banks, some of which may be a fire risk. The first recall affects Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Banks sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the United States. Anker says that these power banks have a "potential issue" with the battery inside, which can lead to overheating, melting of plastic...
Chase Sapphire Reserve Apple Perk Feature

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services. Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year. If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in a Few Months With These 12 New Features

Thursday June 26, 2025 2:00 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Here's Which Vehicle Brands Will and Won't Offer Apple's CarPlay Ultra

Friday June 27, 2025 9:52 am PDT by
Apple last month announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. There was news this week about which automakers will and won't offer CarPlay Ultra, and we have provided an updated list below. CarPlay Ultra is currently limited to newer Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Fortunately, if you cannot...

Top Rated Comments

jlc1978 Avatar
41 months ago

Darn, I was looking forward to my EU version of an iPhone and Mac. That's especially remarkable, since I am in the USA.

No way the EU is going to force Apple to allow downloading of apps from the internet and third-party app stores on iOS. It would make it impossible to ban apps that don't censor speech.
These two comments, while probably sarcastic, brings up some good points on sideloading. If Apple is forced to allow sideloading, enforcing laws regulating speech become much more difficult. With the Apple store, Apple acted as the gatekeeper for compliance since installing apps outside of it involved jumping through hoops.

With sideloading, the EU could no longer expect Apple to act as their gatekeeper; but will have to go directly to the developer, which in some cases may simply be beyond the EU's control. A developer outside of the EU has no reason to comply if they don't want to; and I suspect some of the more fringe ones will actually take pride in being "silenced" and use it to pump up their importance.

Their is a broader issue beyond the EU - countries such as China will probably not want sideloading to be official since they also no longer have a compliant Apple to control what their citizens can download. Given China's market is as large as the EU's you could see different iPhones for different markets; and the ability to shutdown, or enable, sideloading in software based on geolocation.


Shows that they're trying to take their time and get it right rather than try to rush it through.
I have complete faith in our EU overlords' ability to mess this up and then claim it wasn't their fault.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vipergts2207 Avatar
41 months ago
Shows that they're trying to take their time and get it right rather than try to rush it through.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
philrock Avatar
41 months ago
No one wins here except Apple competitors. Consumers get a possibly more capable but less stable and less secure device. This law is watering down all the things most people appreciate about their iPhones. Hopefully, Apple makes a separate device for the EU so the rest of us don't have to suffer.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
threesixty360 Avatar
41 months ago
funny that the only company that will lose out in all this is Apple.
Its like they designed a whole set of laws to target 1 company lol
And are pretending its going to cut everyone to size... like who?
Companies with propriety systems like Oracle and Microsoft get to do whatever...
Companies with ridiculous monopolies in advertising like google, pretty much untouched etc.

Every angle that Apple use to differentiate themselves from their competitors is basically attacked.

Its a shakedown. Nothing more, nothing less.

I suppose you can bend over and take it or lawyer up.
Didn't Apple defeat Vesteger over the Irish tax thing? Seems very personal!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
byke Avatar
41 months ago
Another reason why the EU is no longer fit for purpose.
We saw that with vaccine rollout, we have seen that with the slow response regarding Ukraine. And this idea that EU technocrats have a better understanding of freedoms and technology, than the actual industry is laughable.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cb3 Avatar
41 months ago
The EU loves to regulate/ban things. Where would we be without the Nanny State? SOME regulation is NEEDED. However, bodies like this don't seem to know when to stop.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)