Apple’s antitrust settlement talks with the U.S. Department of Justice are still moving, and some of the companies most affected by the case are uneasy about where they are heading. PayPal and Epic Games are among the developers worried that a deal will leave Apple’s control over the iPhone largely intact.
The concerns come from a report by The Information, which says the DOJ appears to be building a possible settlement around iPhone interoperability. That covers how well third-party apps, accessories and services can work with the iPhone compared to Apple’s own.
Apple and the DOJ were first reported to be in settlement talks in July. No deal has been announced, and the lawsuit has kept moving in the meantime.
The DOJ Is Asking Developers How to Improve iPhone Interoperability
As part of its conversations with developers, the DOJ has asked them for a list of ways the iPhone could work better with other companies’ devices. The department is collecting ideas from the people who build for the platform, and that input could shape the terms of any deal.
Interoperability sits at the center of the original case. The DOJ sued Apple in March 2024, accusing the company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market across the United States at the expense of consumers, developers and competitors. The complaint targeted five areas of the iPhone experience:
- Super apps with broad capabilities
- Cloud streaming games
- Third-party messaging apps
- Third-party smartwatches
- Third-party digital wallets
Apple has changed some products and policies since the lawsuit was filed, including better messaging interoperability with Android devices. The report says the company is likely to resist anything more substantial, which could make a deal harder to close.
PayPal and Epic Games Fear the Settlement Will Be Too Light
Many developers and antitrust lawyers are concerned that the DOJ will offer Apple a settlement with relatively light requirements for how the iPhone interacts with other companies’ devices. PayPal and Epic Games have raised those concerns directly with DOJ officials, according to the report.
Those fears come from people familiar with the talks, who say developers do not expect a deal to go far enough in curbing what they see as Apple’s anticompetitive behavior.
The Talks Are Taking Longer Than Some Expected
Some people involved in the negotiations expected a resolution sooner. One possible cause of the delay is the pending Senate confirmation of Adam Candeub, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the DOJ’s antitrust division.
Meanwhile, Apple and the DOJ are still fighting over access to internal records from federal agencies, and the DOJ recently won a temporary pause on an order to hand over documents from 14 agencies.
A DOJ spokesperson declined to discuss specifics and said only that the department would keep prioritizing affordability for all Americans across the economy. PayPal and Epic Games declined to comment on the report, and Apple did not respond.
