Apple Defends Ecosystem in Australia as Antitrust Firefighting Around the World Continues

Apple has robustly defended its ecosystem in a submission to Australia's competition watchdog, amid growing global scrutiny of the power of big tech companies and "gatekeeping."

applerundleplaceaustralia
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has scrutinized Apple's ecosystem in a series of investigations since last year and encouraged the company to give users more control over preinstalled apps and services. In a detailed response to the ACCC's Digital Platform Services Inquiry Discussion Paper, Apple argued that proposed changes to its ecosystem "would reduce incentives for dynamic firms like Apple to innovate and develop new and differentiated products" and expose users to a "far less secure and private environment."

Apple is puzzled that the competition and consumer protection agency would prioritise purported competition concerns which lack cogent evidence of harm, over clear and present severe damage to users that they experience every day. That is not what consumers want to see as outcomes of legislative reform - they want stronger, not weaker, protection - from the unlawful conduct which affects the hundreds of thousands of Australians every year whose information is stolen, scammed, traded and exploited to their detriment.

Apple highlighted confidential data that it submitted to the ACCC that shows there is "a meaningful, consistent, and upward-trending willingness of users to switch between devices and platforms, and an ongoing capacity for them to do so." The company also argued that it competes with "other software distribution platforms to attract developers to the App Store," citing web apps as an example of "an alternative means for developers to distribute apps to iOS users."

Australia is among the many countries now heavily scrutinizing Apple's ecosystem and threatening pervasive legislation in an attempt to force changes, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, the European Union, and more, with a clear appetite from global regulators to explore requirements around app store policies, app sideloading, and interoperability.

See Apple's full response to the ACCC for more information.

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

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm 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. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
Prime Day 25 Feature Warm Triad

The Best Early Prime Day Deals on Apple Products

Saturday July 5, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Amazon is soon to be back with its annual summertime Prime Day event, lasting for four days from July 8-11, the longest Prime Day yet. As it does every year, Prime Day offers shoppers a huge selection of deals across Amazon's storefront, and there are already many deals you can get on sale ahead of the event. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a ...

Top Rated Comments

BootsWalking Avatar
41 months ago
Uh oh, yet another continent the faithful will say Apple should pull out of. There's always Antarctica.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jakey rolling Avatar
41 months ago

Maybe apple should put Australia in its rear view mirror.
There it is.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macative Avatar
41 months ago
Had Apple not locked down iOS in the beginning, and ran it much more like macOS from the start...does anyone truly believe: 1) they would have made any less money (measurably)? 2) the iPhone would not be secure?

Both ideas are very doubtful.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DBZmusicboy01 Avatar
41 months ago
This decade has been Anti everything good :(
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jakey rolling Avatar
41 months ago

No it isn't.

If devs choose to leave the Apple App Store to either go it alone or be exclusively in another store we as consumers lose:
[LIST=1]
* The convenience of a one stop shop for app purchases and updates
* The security/privacy of Apple's payment system versus others
* The very clear privacy declarations that the Apple store requires.

Here's the thing - none of those things will go away. Apple will still have a store, and you can still rest cozy in your little well-protected walled garden with your iNanny watching over you, if you want. All you need to do is not buy apps from other stores. While that might be a tad inconvenient because you really really want that killer app - that still becomes your choice, instead of Apple's. And it's still a far less invasive suggestion than you walled-garden fans telling us to ditch our iPhones and switch to Android every time this subject comes up.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dguisinger Avatar
41 months ago
I'm going to keep saying it, they should have found a middle ground early on. Its going to be death by a 1000 paper cuts with conflicting rules from every authority on the planet if they don't cave on some things and strike a balance...and its probably too late.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)