Apple’s DMA Criticism Highlights Tech-Government Power Struggle

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Originally published at: Apple’s DMA Criticism Highlights Tech-Government Power Struggle - TidBITS

In a statement, Apple writes:

It’s been more than a year since the Digital Markets Act was implemented. Over that time, it’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU. It’s exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together. And as new technologies come out, our European users’ Apple products will only fall further behind. …

That’s why we’re urging regulators to take a closer look at how the law is affecting the EU citizens who use Apple products every day. We believe our users in Europe deserve the best experience on our technology, at the same standard we provide in the rest of the world — and that’s what we’ll keep fighting to deliver.

I struggle to offer constructive thoughts about Apple’s battles with the EU over the Digital Markets Act, a competition law aimed at boosting interoperability and limiting gatekeeper control. At a high level, I believe both the European Commission (which is responsible for the DMA) and Apple believe that they have the best interests of their constituents at heart. However, the European Commission views itself as serving all residents of EU member countries, whereas Apple is focused on current or prospective Apple users in the EU. Neither side is likely acting in bad faith; they’re advancing different, sometimes conflicting, mandates. As much as I believe Apple makes good products that serve its users well, what’s best for Apple users (and thus Apple itself) isn’t always best—or even good—for everyone else.

Apple’s claim of “the same standard we provide in the rest of the world” rings somewhat hollow, given that it often adjusts its technology and services to comply with local laws and rulings. The company has made significant concessions to operate in China, doesn’t offer FaceTime in the United Arab Emirates, and removes apps from the still-functional Russian App Store at the Russian government’s request. Apple likely pushed back (unsuccessfully) in less public ways in those more authoritarian countries, but in the democratic EU, this public statement appears aimed at rallying its users and influencing the regulatory conversation. Even in the United States, Apple dropped the Blood Oxygen app from watchOS to comply with the International Trade Commission’s ruling in favor of Masimo’s claim of patent infringement before coming up with an iPhone-focused workaround (see “Blood Oxygen Monitoring Returns with iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1,” 14 August 2025).

Ultimately, we’re witnessing a clash between two immense power structures—the European Union, a federation of 27 countries representing 450 million people and the world’s third-largest economy—and Apple, one of the world’s most influential and valuable companies, with a market capitalization of about $3.7 trillion and roughly $100 billion in net income over the past 12 months. As the power of the tech giants, whose products and services underpin the lives of billions, continues to increase, these conflicts will become more common, and it’s often impossible to predict which side’s vision will best serve everyone in practice.

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Yes, it’s hilarious, in a sad way, that Apple is emulating Uber’s corporate strategy under Travis Kalanick. I don’t think it’s going to work, though, because Apple is too big, has too many stakeholders, and isn’t fighting an unloved, entrenched competitor—if anything, Apple is more like the taxi industry than early-days Uber— for “hustle culture” tactics.

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I haven’t read up on the context of this story, but the Statement @ace quotes is corporate rubbish. I live in the EU and my Apple experience is not getting worse because of DMA but because of changes Apple makes to make their products better for Apple’s interests, not the user. Anyway, I could break down each of those sentences but the whole quotation makes me sick. Not unlike the ad where they literally hydraulic-press crush implements of creativity, or Google’s removal of avoiding evil as a corporate ideal. The people at Apple who approve this stuff are, ah, quite out of touch imho.

Right on, @ace!

Apple wants what is best for its business interests. The EU is an elected body representing a variety of constituents as noted by @ace too, and while I’m not a DMA expert I would say stories I’ve read about it make it sound like the EU is trying to protect consumers, a noble goal.

It’s about money, not The User Experience. That has been Apple’s approach if not always then for many recent years imho. Maybe I’m getting a case of Senior Cynicism, but in the early Apple days (I’m using Apple products over 40 years now) it felt like Apple wanted to do great things for its users.

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I have quite a different perspective. As I see it, the DMA is demanding that every time Apple creates a new OS feature they need to provide ways for competitors to interoperate with it. (Which would essentially mean that they must allow others to copy it.)

Why would Apple, or any other company, spend millions to create something new under this requirement? In addition to the security problems this creates, jt adds millions of dollars to develop, test, and maintain interoperability, for the benefit of rival companies.

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That’s one of the places where I just can’t work through where it all goes. Apple is complaining about having to jump through these hoops, but the fact that it’s doing so says to me that the cost must be worth the reward.

Apple could just as easily have kept such features out of devices sold in the EU, just as it dropped the Blood Oxygen app from watchOS in the US. But as big a market as the EU is, I don’t think that dropping certain features there would change Apple’s overall strategy—we’d just see different user experiences in the EU versus other parts of the world.

And that’s already true for many features, even high profile ones. Don’t take this ChatGPT response as gospel, but it gives a sense of how the Apple experience is far from standardized around the world.

1. Emergency SOS / Satellite Features

  • Emergency SOS via Satellite
    Now live in: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S. Apple Support+2Apple Support+2
    Requirements: iPhone 14 or later, specific iOS versions depending on country (e.g. iOS 16.4 in many European countries, iOS 17.6 in Japan) Apple Support+1
    Notes: International travelers can use the feature when in a supported country, with exceptions if the device was purchased in restricted regions. Apple Support+1
  • Satellite Messaging / Roadside Assistance via Satellite
    Apple is gradually layering on messaging and assistance features over the same satellite backend. For example, Messages over satellite in some jurisdictions, and Roadside Assistance via satellite (initially U.S.-centric, expanding) are tied to carrier and regulatory availability. Apple+2Gadget Hacks+2
  • Free Access / Trial Periods
    Apple has extended the free access period for satellite features (Emergency SOS et al.) through November 2026 for iPhone 14/15 users activated in supported countries by September 9, 2025. TidBITS+2Gadget Hacks+2

2. Apple Pay & Wallet

  • Apple Pay
    Broad support across many regions (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America). Apple Support+2Apple Support+2
    However, in mainland China, Apple Pay is limited to web usage in Safari; it is not supported in macOS apps or non-Safari browsers. Apple Support+1
    Also, in many markets, individual banks or card issuers may choose not to participate, limiting functional availability. Apple Support+2Apple Support+2
  • Digital ID / Driver’s License in Wallet
    Still largely U.S.-only (a few states), no broad international rollout yet. Regulatory, identity-verification, and legal frameworks remain the bottleneck.
  • Transit in Wallet / Local Transit Integration
    Still very city-by-city. Major metro systems in places like New York, London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney are supported, but many cities are not.

3. Health / Sensors / Monitoring

  • ECG / Irregular Rhythm Notifications / AFib History
    Apple states that ECG, Irregular Rhythm Notifications, and AFib History are now available in over 150 countries. MacRumors
    Recent expansions have included Argentina, Costa Rica, Serbia, etc. MacRumors
    But even with Apple’s list, there are reports of gaps. For instance, ECG is reportedly inactive in some Western Balkans (e.g. Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia) in user forums. Apple Support Community
    Apple’s “About ECG” page still notes that due to regulation, specific feature versions (ECG v1 or v2) may or may not be available in certain countries. Apple Support
  • Sleep Apnea / Breathing Disturbance Detection
    Apple has recently expanded sleep apnea detection in newer Apple Watches (Series 9, 10, Ultra 2) to more than 150 countries. MacRumors
  • Blood Oxygen / Heart Rate / Basic Sensor Data
    These generally work globally. An odd exception: in the U.S., some Apple Watch units had blood oxygen monitoring disabled on Series 9/Ultra 2 “due to legal reasons,” though Apple reenabled it with a software update (watchOS 11.6.1). Wikipedia

4. Maps, Navigation, and Location Services

  • Look Around / Street-level imagery / 3D city models
    Still limited to a subset of regions (U.S., U.K., parts of Europe, Japan, Singapore, etc.). The rollout is slower, especially in Africa, Latin America, and many parts of Asia.
  • Transit mapping / routing / public transport integration
    Many developed markets have full transit integration; less-developed or data-light regions often only have basic routing or no transit support.
  • Find My via Satellite / Offline Location Sharing
    The Apple Watch feature map lists Find My via satellite in countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, U.K., U.S. Apple

5. Siri / Intelligence / Local Features

  • Siri / Local Knowledge
    Siri’s global reach is broad (many languages), but localized services (news, weather, sports, restaurant reservations) are restricted to markets where Apple has data partnerships.
  • “Apple Intelligence” / On-device AI features (in iOS 18+ etc.)
    As of 2025, rollout is still early. In initial form, it’s English-only in U.S. and limited to high-end hardware. Apple has started adding more languages (e.g. Danish, Dutch, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), Vietnamese) in iOS 26 beta. MacRumors

6. Other Regulatory & Edge Constraints

  • iCloud Advanced Data Protection (end-to-end encrypted backups)
    Still unavailable in certain countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, etc., due to legal/mandated-access concerns.
  • Device activation / “Region-locked” behavior
    Some features won’t work if the device is region-locked or bought in a restricted country. E.g. satellite features might be disabled on devices bought in unsupported jurisdictions. Apple Support+1
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LOL. I’m laughing, not in a malicious way, because Jobs was always focused on money, status symbols, and competition. The voice of the user was Woz.

I’d say that’s always been the tension at Apple: the hippie ethos of many of its early employees versus the capitalist-Master of the Universe competitive spirit many geeks strongly feel.

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Well, the rest of the world is different from America. And somehow Apple manage to make a lot of money there. I wouldn’t worry about them.

And Apple users in the EU are doing just fine.

The damn cookie notice, well there’s that. Sorry folks.

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Which is why there’s now an entire category of browser extensions to block the notices. Including:

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(Curmudgeon-Mode)
I’m not defending Apple, but frankly I don’t think the EU is acting in good faith. I have great distain for Eurocrats, and for the EU as a pseudo-democratic body. When the EU Parliament gets ‘right of origin’, rather than ‘only votes on what the EU Council sends it’, I might change my position.

A lot of the EU arguments are for “competition”, but I don’t see the objective evidence where their ‘competition initiatives’ have actually -produced more competition-. The requirements for USB-C were particularly galling, because they were applied to devices that are mostly made outside the EU, but NOT to devices made within the EU. Case-in-point, I have a Braun electric razor, with a proprietary connector to the razor and a proprietary power supply (that produces voltage I think USB-C can easily provide.) And I have a Norelco, another proprietary connector, but on the other end was USB-A (and they included a USB-A dongle, something I have lots of already.) The arguments for mandating USB-C would apply just as well to EU produced electric razors as they would to US produced phones and tablets.

Many of Apple’s responses on App Store issues have been self-serving, but at the same time “It’s my store, I get to set the rules.” If EU wants to turn parts of Apple into a utility, let them do that with above-board legislation and the combination of carrots and sticks that apply to other utilities. Don’t do it with regulations promulgated by Administrative dictates.
(/Curmudgeon-Mode)

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People didn’t like my post so I have edited it. The edits are in bold.

The EU and its member countries are in deep trouble. There are exactly no companies with a market value over $400 billion. There is no GDP growth. Companies are losing money or closing up. Energy costs are too high. Regulation costs are too high. GDPR is a joke which the EU is urgently working on dismantling as I write.[deleted] This DMA [deleted] will be brushed aside by the US with [deleted] ease [deleted].

As such the process of regulating and fining Apple is not really about Apple. It’s about financing the EU activities and catering to political forces hostile to the US. This has been going on for maybe a decade already, but these days the US government is directly responding negatively to these activities which is something the EU Commission is not sure how to react to.

It will be interesting to watch how this develops over time.

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I think Doc Searls and others are working on for a long time a way for users to get more control over their data and permissions. I admire the effort and wish them success. If I recall right they propose a secure way for users to store their permissions, which would be accessed by websites before displaying the site, thus making it faster for users to browse in accordance with their cookie/tracking wishes.

When I visit US sites from a US location, I often find the only ‘choice’ (ha!) is to accept cookies/sharing/tracking or not use the site. Browse same site from an EU location and a variety of these options are presented, from ‘accept none’ to ‘essential’ to ‘all’. As a user I find this better than ‘our way or the highway’ but still not optimal.

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Maybe, but I don’t believe for an instant that what you choose changes anything. It’s all window dressing.

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As @ace noted, and as Apple has stated, they play by local rules around the world. There’s no reason EU laws should be a problem. Let them spend billions on compliance, not politics. They have and/can afford the engineering to deal with this instead of crying.

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Is there a way to find out? ie, say I clear out a browsers cache and cookies and everything, then go to a site, click ‘reject all’, then see if the site stored any of the rejected data perhaps? Or is there some other built in diagnostic software that would tell?

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You can check to see if they placed any cookies on your computer, but there is no way to tell what they’re recording server-side. Especially if the data is solely used for tracking and doesn’t affect the user experience.

A tracking cross-site cookie makes it easier to track uses, but it is far from the only way.

For example, they can use your IP address (which changes, but not that often) in conjunction with browser fingerprinting to generate a token that works pretty well for cross-site tracking, even if it’s not perfect.

You can, of course, use a VPN and configure your browser to make these techniques less useful, but that’s completely independent of various cookie laws. And if you are worried enough to do all this, you can easily block the tracking cookies yourself, independent of what you click on a web site’s warning box.

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It’s quite routine in European countries (including the UK) for all or most legislation to originally be written by government civil servants, then it gets amended by legislators in (usually) two houses. In the UK this is the elected Commons and the unelected Lords, in the EU it is elected EU Governments and elected Members of the European Parliament.

UK MPs can introduce legislation, through a Private Members Bill system, but the system is rigged against them.

The US approach does tend to be different, but whether it is better is up for debate - I have the impression that legislation in Washington is more driven by $$ than the electorate.

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Thanks, the edits help. While I may not be knowledgeable enough about the EU’s economic and political situation to evaluate your thesis, the argument that the DMA may have seemingly unrelated goals, such as revenue generation, political posturing for internal forces, and external negotiating points, doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Not unreasonable, but if you’re saying that the DMA isn’t really about Apple, the discussion does veer off-topic. We can’t and shouldn’t tackle global political issues that don’t at least intersect with Apple and the tech world, for madness that way lies.

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Well Apple is getting drawn into the fray even if the EU’s “hidden motivations” are more complex. BTW have you heard of SetApp? They are developing an IOS store according to the new EU laws. SetApp is from Ukraine but located in Cyprus now.

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The DMA became active in 2022 and the first fines were imposed in 2025, for a total of 700 million euros. The EU operating budget is about 170 billion euro/year, or 510 billion over the three years of the DMA. The fines thus constituted about 0.13% of that budget.* That hardly seems evidence of the DMA being an attempt at revenue generation.

*math not guaranteed.

(on a side note – I don’t root for companies for their market share rank, so I don’t think that’s really relevant)

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Just want to add some context as we think about the issues in this thread:

  • Market capitalization is simply (total number of shares issued by a company) times (share price). As such, a company’s market capitalization changes every time there is a trade.
  • The US$ market capitalization of companies whose primary stock listing is on non-US stock exchanges have another constantly-changing factor: currency exchange rates. So, direct comparisons of US versus non-US market caps aren’t particularly useful for political analysis.
  • At least two EU companies—Novo Nordisk and LVMH—have had market caps in excess of US$400b, although these occurred before the current chaotic global economic environment. If the definition is expanded to include the UK and non-EU European countries, there are probably others (my guesses would include Nestlé and HSBC) that reached US$400b either currently or sometime in the 2000s.
  • Market capitalization does not directly measure how much money a company has to spend, its revenues, or its profits.
  • Companies and entities that are privately held or have multiple classes of stock shares will not have their true worth or value reflected in their market capitalization (if it even exists).
  • A country’s stock market is not its economy. A country’s economy is not its stock market.
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