Apple Faces New EU Call to Open iPhone to Competitors

Apple is facing new pressure in Europe to let competitors access its iPhone operating system.

The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday (Dec. 18) published a pair of documents covering how the tech giant needs to meet interoperability requirements of the Europe Union’s (EU) Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The EC’s guidelines for Apple are designed to make sure that devices like smartwatches or features such as wireless file transfers function as smoothly with iPhones as do Apple Watches or AirDrop.

In addition, the EC says outside iOS developers should be granted more information on how to access iPhone features, as well as a dedicated contact to deal with requests. The watchdog also calls on Apple to establish a “fair and impartial conciliation” process to handle disagreements over technical issues.

Apple responded by saying that the DMA’s requirements would put users at risk. The company published a paper that argues that the act would require users to open their devices and data to companies with a history of violating consumers’ privacy.

“As an example of our concerns, Meta has made 15 requests (and counting) for potentially far-reaching access to Apple’s technology stack that, if granted as sought, would reduce the protections around personal data that our users have come to expect from their devices,” Apple wrote, adding that granting these requests could let Meta access user messages, photos, passwords and emails.

“This is data that Apple itself has chosen not to access in order to provide the strongest possible protection to users,” the company said, drawing a rebuke from Meta.

“Here’s what Apple is actually saying: they don’t believe in interoperability,” Andy Stone, communications director for the Facebook owner, wrote on X.

“In fact, every time Apple is called out for anticompetitive behavior, they defend themselves on privacy grounds that have no basis in reality.”

The EC’s requirements for Apple are part of a larger push by the agency to rein in the power of tech giants in Europe.

For example, the EC’s new competition chief, Teresa Ribera, said earlier this month that a breakup of Google is still a possibility.

She told Bloomberg News that divestments can keep Big Tech firms from garnering too much market power and that she hopes to build on the “legacy” of her predecessor, Margrethe Vestager, who approved of divestments.

“It’s something that is of course on the table, and we try to work together with other relevant competition authorities worldwide, including the U.S. competition authorities,” Ribera said of the Google breakup, an idea also supported by the U.S. Justice Department.