EU to review Apple's iPad OS compliance

The European Union is set to review whether Apple’s iPad OS adheres to its stringent Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations. This assessment aims to ensure compliance with the bloc’s requirements for fair competition and consumer choice in the digital market.

The European Union’s DMA establishes strict regulations to curb anti-competitive practices by tech giants and create a more open digital marketplace. Under the DMA, designated "gatekeepers"—large companies with substantial market influence—must allow fair access to their platforms and services, ensuring smaller competitors and new entrants can compete effectively. Key obligations include preventing self-preferential treatment, enabling interoperability with third-party services, and giving users greater control over their data and app installations. Violations can lead to heavy fines, amounting to up to 10% of the gatekeeper's global revenue.

It marks a significant step toward tech sector regulation and sets a precedent for digital market laws worldwide. EU antitrust regulators will assess whether Apple's iPads comply with the bloc's landmark rules aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech, the European Commission shared. Thus, the evaluation of iPad OS particularly relevant as it determines how Apple handles third-party access and interoperability within its ecosystem in Europe.

The move by the EU executive, which acts as the bloc's competition enforcer, followed Apple's publication of a compliance report for its iPad OS, designated by the commission in April as an important gateway for businesses to reach their customers. The DMA, which came into force earlier this year, requires Apple to allow users to set the default web browser of their choice on iPads, permit alternative app stores on its operating system and allow headphones and smart pens to access iPad OS features.