Apple Will Reportedly Face Antitrust Lawsuit

Apple could be in some major legal trouble as the Department of Justice (DOJ) is readying an antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone maker, according to a report from Bloomberg Wednesday. The legal action could be filed as soon as Thursday.

The lawsuit reportedly focuses on Apple’s violation of antitrust laws by blocking access to iPhone hardware and software features.

Apple and the DOJ didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple routinely finds itself in legal trouble over its business practices, but the company finds ways to keep winning. Last year, the legal battle between Epic and Apple over the App Store payment options went all the way to the Supreme Court, but Apple prevailed in the end.

On the hardware side, Apple has been fighting right-to-repair laws so that it can keep repairs for its products in-house. However, the company does seem like it’s changing its mind on some recent right-to-repair legislation in certain states.

But that’s in the U.S. Over in the European Union (EU), Apple has been getting spanked by regulations. Not only did regulators make Apple go all-in with USB-C cables for the iPhone 15 last year, but the EU also made Apple open up its software to allow third-party app stores onto its devices.

The Biden administration has picked multiple fights with some big companies over antitrust violations. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon for operating an illegal monopoly while the DOJ filed a suit against Google for the same reason. Microsoft was also the focus of antitrust legal action when it acquired video game publisher Activision. That deal was completed in October, but the FTC appealed that merger in December seeking to reverse it.