Apple faces further DMA fines as EU gives compliance deadline
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The European Commission has ordered Apple to cease and desist with non-compliance of the Digital Markets Act and now has less than 30 days to change its App Store rules to enable linkouts without fees.
The EC has just published the full details of its recent ruling against Apple that saw the US tech giant fined €500 million ($570m). The regulator found Apple had breached its anti-steering rules following an investigation into its business practices.
Under the Digital Markets Act, app developers must be allowed to inform users of, and direct them to, alternative offers outside Apple’s App Store.
The EC said Apple had 60 days to comply with its decision from the date of notification. The regulator released its decision on April 23rd, 2025, now leaving Apple less than 30 days to respond.
Apple was also warned against bringing in new anti-steering rules that could have the same or equivalent effect.
As previously announced, it must now ensure app developers can engage in “any form of communication, promotion of offers, and conclusion of contracts” both within and outside of their app. Apple is also prohibited from imposing any fees on transactions outside the store simply for “gatekeeper value”.
The EC said it will impose periodic penalty payments on Apple if it fails to comply. The EC’s previous fine of €500m was reported to be lower than expected due to concerns of retaliation from the US Trump administration.
“Unprecedented” decision
In a statement to 9to5Mac, an Apple spokesperson said the decision by the EC was bad for innovation, competition and users.
“There is nothing in the 70-page decision released today that justifies the European Commission’s targeted actions against Apple, which threaten the privacy and security of our users in Europe and force us to give away our technology for free,” read a statement.
“Their decision and unprecedented fine came after the Commission continuously moved the goalposts on compliance, and repeatedly blocked Apple’s months-long efforts to implement a new solution.
“The decision is bad for innovation, bad for competition, bad for our products, and bad for users. While we appeal, we’ll continue engaging with the Commission to advocate on behalf of our European customers.”
The release of the EC’s ruling comes after a US judge ruled, and upheld, that Apple must comply with an injunction to freely allow developers to use linkouts to alternative payment systems on the US App store.
The decision led to Fortnite’s return to the marketplace nearly five years after it was first removed. Apple has vowed to appeal that ruling.
We published an analysis of what that ruling could mean for the mobile games industry here.
