Apple tried everything to escape the DMA. The EU General Court rejected it outright on Wednesday. App Store confirmed, iOS confirmed, iMessage declared inadmissible. Brussels joins the giants after Google last week.
A week after inflicting another defeat on Google over the Android fine, the European Union’s justice system turned towards Apple. The General Court of the EU, sitting in Luxembourg, has dismissed all appeals filed by the Californian firm against its designation as an “access controller” under the Digital Markets Act. The judgment (official press release no. 95/2026) leaves no ambiguity: App Store and iOS remain subject to the strictest obligations of the DMA, and the iMessage component is declared inadmissible.
Three open fronts, three defeats
Apple’s designation as a gatekeeper dates back to September 5, 2023the date on which the European Commission had registered its five application stores under a single regulatory label. Apple specifically contested this grouping: according to it, the iPhone App Store and the Mac App Store cannot be treated as a single service. The judges did not follow. For the Court, the five stores (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch) fulfill the same central function, namely connecting developers and users, and deserve to be considered as a single essential platform service. The Commission was right all along.
On the iOS side, same verdict: the designation of the operating system as “essential intermediary” between companies and users, which requires Apple to allow competing services to interoperate with its OS, is confirmed. Apple had also attempted to challenge iMessage’s classification, which would have potentially made it subject to European telecommunications regulations. The Court ruled differently: the appeals are inadmissible, iMessage having never been formally designated as a service subject to the obligations of the DMA.
What it locks in for Apple, and what you gain
Concretely, for an iPhone user in France, the ruling does not create new obligations but cements those already in force. Since 2024, alternative stores can exist on your iPhone (even if the conditions imposed by Apple have seriously slowed their adoption in practice). The DMA prohibits Apple from favoring its own services to the detriment of those of its competitors and from cross-referencing your personal data between its different services without consent. Interoperability with iOS remains required. On all these fronts, the judgment closes the door to any return to the past.
The decision strengthens Brussels’ position at a particularly delicate moment: the Trump administration is brandishing the DMA in transatlantic trade negotiations, presenting the law as a discriminatory measure targeting American companies. Apple said “firmly believe that the mandate of the DMA goes beyond what is legal and proportionate” and intends to plead for “innovation and confidentiality” of its European users.
It can still appeal to the Court of Justice of the EU (the highest court in the bloc), but only on points of law. The fine of 500 million euros imposed in April 2025 for non-compliance with the DMA on the App Store also continues to be contested in a separate procedure. A second case (T-359/25) relates specifically to the interoperability arrangements imposed by the Commission, and will also go before the European courts.
For Apple, this is the week of all setbacks. On both sides of the Atlantic, regulation is tightening its grip on a company whose model is based precisely on controlling access to its ecosystem.
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Source :
Reuters
