EU General Court Upholds Apple DMA Gatekeeper Designation

The General Court of the European Union has dismissed Apple’s challenge to its designation as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The judgment confirms the European Commission’s decision to designate both iOS and the App Store as core platform services subject to the DMA’s gatekeeper obligations.

Apple had argued that the DMA’s interoperability requirements for iOS infringed its fundamental rights. The Court did not examine that argument on its merits, holding instead that it lacked a sufficiently direct link to the gatekeeper designation decision under challenge.

The Court also rejected Apple’s argument that its five App Stores—covering iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV—should be assessed as separate core platform services. It found that the stores perform the same function: connecting business users, including developers, with end users, irrespective of the device used.

Apple’s claims concerning iMessage were found inadmissible. The ruling is an important early judicial confirmation of the Commission’s DMA designation approach, following the dismissal of ByteDance’s challenge in 2024 and the General Court’s partial annulment of Meta’s designation in a separate case. Apple still has pending actions concerning the Commission’s March 2025 interoperability specification decision and its €500 million DMA fine for anti-steering practices.