Apple has been formally ordered by the European Commission (EU) to open his tightly controlled ecosystem to open its tightly controlled ecosystem for device manufacturers and app developers, as part of BLOC’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Landmark ruling, which was declared on Wednesday, aims to break the obstacles in Apple’s iOS and iPados platforms to ensure fair competition for consumers in Europe and to ensure more options.

The Commission’s directive specifies two major sets of measures. First, Apple will have to provide smartphones, smartwatch, headphones and third-party manufacturers of other connected devices, which improve access to major iOS facilities such as iOS-to-Peer Wi-Fi, near-field communication (NFC), and notification systems. This step is designed to ensure that non-apple devices can interact more basically with iPhones and iPads.

Two major measures in the European Union’s instructions

Secondly, Apple needs to overhala the process how this app handles interpreting requests from developers. Changes include increased transparency, rapid response time, and more access to technical documentation on iOS and iPados features that are currently not available to third parties.
“With these decisions, we are only implementing law and providing regulator certainty to both Apple and developers,” has been written by Teresa Ribera, head of the European Union Antitust. According to the release of the European Union, the objective of measures to open apple platforms to enable new products and services to flourish in the European market.

Six months after the Commission starts the specification proceedings against Apple, it is ruling that the company should follow the DMA’s interoperability requirements. Under DMA, large digital platforms are classified as gatekeepers – which are market power – they should ensure fair and open access to contestants.

According to the European Commission, measures will benefit European consumers by allowing various types of equipment and services to work smoothly with apple products, while the user also safety of the integrity of the privacy and apple operating system.

Apple’s response to European Union’s decision

However, Apple has criticized the order, saying that it reduces user experience and innovation. The company said in a statement, “Today’s decisions wrap us in red tape, slow down the capacity of Apple to innovate for users in Europe and force us to provide their new features to companies that do not need to play with equal rules.” Apple said that it will continue to discuss with the Commission to solve its concerns.

Apple also argues that the implementation of DMA effectively forces the company to share ownership techniques with the contestants, including “copying others”. Apple also warned that the intervention of the Commission enables third parties to achieve access to sensitive user data, potentially compromise privacy security. The company highlighted that some firms have used DMA to ignore European data protection laws, citing specific concerns over the commercial practices of Mata.

Despite its objections, Apple has taken steps to meet the new regulatory requirements. Tech veteran said that it has launched a developer portal to facilitate interoperability requests and made important resources including 500 engineers to ensure compliance. Apple also claims that it already provides the developers access to over 250,000 APIs, which is part of its widespread support for third party services.

While specification proceedings focus on defining Apple’s obligations under DMA, the European Commission has warned that failure to comply can probe up to 10 percent of Apple’s global annual revenue and a potential penalty. According to an estimate, in 2024, Apple’s global annual revenue was $ 391.04 billion, which means that 10 percent of its 10 percent would be around $ 39.104 billion.