In Cases T-1079/23 and T-1080/23 Apple Inc. v European Commission, the EU General Court dismissed Apple’s actions against the European Commission’s decision to designate it as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for the App Store and iOS. The court also held that Apple’s challenges relating to iMessage were inadmissible.
The dispute
In September 2023, the Commission designated Apple as a gatekeeper in relation to the App Store and the iOS operating system under the DMA. The Commission also classified iMessage as a number-independent interpersonal communications service (NIICS) constituting a core platform service, although it later concluded that Apple should not be designated as a gatekeeper for iMessage following a market investigation.
Apple challenged:
• its gatekeeper designation for the App Store and iOS;
• the Commission’s treatment of the various App Stores as a single core platform service; and
• the Commission’s decisions relating to the iMessage investigation.
Key findings
The App Store is a single core platform service
One of Apple’s central arguments was that its various App Stores (for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV) should be treated as separate core platform services. If accepted, that approach could have affected whether the relevant DMA thresholds were met.
The General Court disagreed. It held that the different App Stores share the same essential purpose: connecting app developers with end users and facilitating app distribution. Differences linked to the devices on which the stores operate were not sufficient to transform them into distinct core platform services.
Limits on challenging DMA provisions indirectly
Apple also sought to challenge the legality of a DMA provision concerning interoperability obligations for gatekeepers. The court rejected this argument as inadmissible, finding that the provision was neither the legal basis of the designation decision nor directly linked to it.
iMessage challenge fails on admissibility grounds
The court also found that Apple’s challenges concerning iMessage were inadmissible. Although the Commission had classified iMessage as a core platform service, it ultimately concluded that Apple should not be designated as a gatekeeper for that service. As a result, no DMA obligations applied to iMessage.
The court held that the classification itself did not alter Apple’s legal position and therefore could not be challenged independently. The same reasoning defeated Apple’s actions against both the decision opening the market investigation and the decision closing it.
