EU General Court upholds Apple’s DMA gatekeeper designation

Court upholds the designation

The EU General Court on July 8 dismissed Apple’s challenge to the European Commission’s decision designating the company’s iOS and App Store ecosystem under the Digital Markets Act. The ruling keeps Apple subject to the bloc’s extra obligations for designated gatekeepers unless a higher court later overturns it.

The court also rejected Apple’s bid to carve up its App Store versions across devices into separate services for DMA purposes. In the court’s view, the variants perform the same essential function, which supported the Commission’s broader reading of Apple’s platform footprint.

How the dispute reached court

The European Commission designated Apple as a DMA gatekeeper in September 2023, placing the company alongside other large platform operators facing additional EU requirements. Apple challenged that designation in court, arguing the Commission had counted its platform services too broadly.

At the center of the case were iOS and the App Store. Apple’s argument focused in part on whether different App Store versions should be treated as distinct services when assessing whether the company met the law’s threshold.

The General Court sided with the Commission’s approach. That leaves the current designation in place and preserves the regulatory framework Apple has been operating under in the EU.

iMessage challenge dismissed

One part of Apple’s case went no further. The court found the company’s challenge related to iMessage inadmissible because the investigation had already been dropped.

That procedural outcome narrows the dispute to the DMA designation itself rather than reopening every issue Apple raised in its appeal. It also means the ruling does not disturb the earlier decision to drop that investigation.

What the ruling means for Apple

For now, Apple remains bound by the Digital Markets Act obligations tied to its designated gatekeeper status. Those rules are designed to curb the power of dominant platform companies and open up more competition in the EU market.

The practical effect is that Apple’s control over distribution and platform rules inside the bloc remains under pressure. The ruling does not end the legal fight, but it removes Apple’s first-line challenge to the Commission’s designation.

Apple can still appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union. A successful appeal could narrow how the Commission treats multi-device platform services under the DMA, especially where the company argues that separate product versions should not be grouped together.

Apple’s response and the broader stakes

An Apple spokesperson said the DMA creates privacy and security risks and said the company would continue advocating its position in Europe. That response signals that Apple intends to keep pressing its objections even after the General Court’s loss.

The case matters beyond Apple because it tests how far the Commission can go in defining gatekeeper status for large platform ecosystems. The ruling supports a broader regulatory reading of services that span multiple devices, which could influence future DMA disputes.

It also adds to the wider EU scrutiny of major technology companies. For the Commission, the decision is an endorsement of its enforcement approach. For Apple, it is a setback that preserves the current obligations while leaving one more court avenue open.

What comes next

The next question is whether Apple files an appeal to the EU’s top court. Any further challenge would keep the legal issue alive and could shape the way the DMA is applied to platform services across the bloc.

The Commission may also use the ruling as support for future enforcement actions tied to Apple or other designated gatekeepers. For now, though, the General Court’s decision leaves the Apple designation intact and the company’s EU obligations in force.