TL;DR
Apple and DOJ hold early settlement talks in 2024 iPhone antitrust case. Apple has made several suggestions. No trial date has been set.
Apple and the US Department of Justice are in early talks to settle a 2024 antitrust lawsuit alleging Apple violated competition law through its iPhone ecosystem. Bloomberg reported on this on Thursday. Apple has made several offers to close the deal this year. Discussions are active, but there is no guarantee that an agreement will be secured and no trial date has been set.
The DOJ, along with 19 states and the District of Columbia, sued Apple under the Biden administration. The complaint alleged that Apple blocks super apps, discourages third-party messaging solutions and cloud streaming apps, restricts rival digital wallets and hinders smartwatch competition. Apple lost a bid to dismiss the lawsuit in June 2025. Apple is already dealing with the Supreme Court’s refusal to stay a contempt order in the Epic caseThe DOJ is making the settlement more attractive to reduce its legal impact.
Apple has already addressed several original complaints. It introduced widgets, opened Messages to the Google-managed RCS standard, allowed cloud streaming apps, and opened up the iPhone’s NFC payment chip to third-party apps. The Apple Watch still doesn’t work with Android, but Apple has improved compatibility with non-Apple watches on the iPhone.
💜 of EU technology
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise founder Boris and some questionable AI art. Free in your inbox every week. Register now!
The Trump administration’s DOJ is trying to resolve antitrust cases inherited from the Biden era. Stanley Woodward, the No. 3 DOJ official who oversees antitrust matters, sees the settlements as a way to save taxpayers money and help consumers faster than years of litigation. It is not known whether the attorneys general of 19 states participated in the settlement talks. Global regulators are pressuring Apple to open up its platformand the DOJ settlement could set a template for how much Apple has to compromise before its other cases go to trial.
