Apple’s fight with EU legislation continues, with the company hit by a €1.8 million fine for limiting competition in the music streaming market. After the company switched all its latest handsets to USB-C and set up a new, separate App Store for the EU market to align with new competition rules, Apple’s EU fine is the latest in the saga – and possibly the biggest, at least symbolically.
“I think it is important to see that if you are a company who is dominant and you do something illegal, it will be punished”, said Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner (via The Guardian). “We want to show our resolve that we will go into these cases.” Apple vs. Spotify, Epic, the EU, and whoever else wants to pick a fight next – more important in 2024 than the usual iPhone vs. Android arguments.
The reason for the fine stems from Apple reportedly restricting developers from promoting cheaper streaming subscriptions that users could purchase outside of the App Store – receiving the same subscription for a lower price. The fine is almost four times higher than previously expected, with Vestager saying the fine represented 0.5% of Apple’s global turnover.
We’re expecting Apple to implement its iOS 17.4 update any day, with the company needing to comply with new DMCA legislation by Wednesday, March 6. While Apple’s EU App Store may offer alternatives, it’s also fiddled with its App Store fees, charging developers per app download over a certain threshold.
It has been a rocky few months for Apple, including not just butting heads with the EU, but also having its Apple Watch patent dispute lead to the brand’s latest line of wearables losing the feature that tracks blood oxygen. Still, as you can see in our iPhone 15 Pro Max review, the company’s latest tech is still pushing the right buttons.
With that, you’re up to date on Apple’s EU fine and all the ramifications. For more, check out our guides to everything we know so far about the iPhone 16, plus our guides to the best Samsung phones and the best Xiaomi phones.