EU antitrust regulators on Thursday warned Apple to throw open its fiercely-guarded proprietary software to rivals — or risk the prospect of major fines.
The European Commission launched so-called specification proceedings that will spell out what Apple has to do to abide by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the strict new law aimed at tech giants from abusing their market share.
While the move isn’t a formal probe, the stepped-up enforcement could upend Apple’s lucrative business model by targeting its iOS connectivity features for smartwatches, headphones, virtual reality headsets and other internet-connected devices.
The Brussels-based regulator will specify how Apple will provide effective interoperability with functionalities such as notifications, device pairing and connectivity.
A second proceeding concerns how Apple addresses interoperability requests submitted by developers and third parties for iOS and iPadOS, with the company told to ensure a transparent, timely, and fair process.
If Apple fails to comply within six months, the EU could start imposing fines.
The DMA stipulates that tech firms that don’t fall in line with the law risk penalties equivalent to 10% of their annual global turnovers.
Last year, Apple generated $383.93 billion in total revenue in Europe — putting the Cupertino, Calif.-based giant on the hook for more than $38 billion if it fails to meet the regulator’s demands.
“Today is the first time we use specification proceedings under the DMA to guide Apple towards effective compliance with its interoperability obligations through constructive dialogue,” EU Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
“We are focused on ensuring fair and open digital markets. Effective interoperability, for example with smartphones and their operating systems, plays an important role in this,” Vestager added.
Apple has steadfastly refused to allow rivals to peek into its iOS source code, which allows the company to control development, distribution and licensing of the software that enables its devices to run.
Developers who want to place their apps on Apple devices must use Apple-provided tools such as Xcode and Swift, but they have to adhere to Apple’s guidelines.
Apple said it will continue to work constructively with the Commission but also warned of the risks.
“Undermining the protections we’ve built over time would put European consumers at risk, giving bad actors more ways to access their devices and data,” it said in a statement.
“At Apple, we’re proud of the fact that we’ve built over 250,000 APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow developers to build apps that access our operating system and functionalities in a way that ensures users’ privacy and security,” Apple said in a statement to The Post.
“To comply with the DMA, we’ve also created ways for apps in the European Union to request additional interoperability with iOS and iPadOS while protecting our users.”
Earlier this month, Apple released new iPhone16 that features the latest version of its iOS, which offers a suite of highly touted artificial intelligence technology.
However, Apple said it won’t release certain features — including Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing — in the EU because of the DMA’s requirements on operating systems to work with third-party apps.
Tech giants Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft — which the DMA labels as “gatekeepers” — have faced a crackdown in the EU over alleged anti-competitive behavior.
In March, the EU fined Apple around $2 billion for allegedly restricting competition by preventing developers from steering users to alternative payment options outside of the App Store.
Earlier this year, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta was accused of violating the DMA by not giving users the option of safeguarding their personal data from advertisers.
