iPads join iPhones in requirement to follow strict EU rules

Following an almost eight-month investigation into whether Apple’s iPadOS holds enough market power to warrant stricter regulation, the European Commission has now designated the iPad operating system as a Gatekeeper service under its flagship Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules.

“The Commission concluded that iPadOS constitutes an important gateway for business users to reach end users, and that Apple enjoys an entrenched and durable position with respect to iPadOS,” reads a statement published by the Commission on Monday. “Apple now has six months to ensure full compliance with the DMA obligations as applied to iPadOS.”

Under the DMA, which came into force on March 7th, iPadOS will now have to comply with a broad range of rules that allow users in Europe to download apps from outside the Apple App Store, uninstall apps preloaded on iPads, and select default services like browsers from choice screens. If Apple fails to comply with the DMA rules for operating systems, the company could face fines of up to 10 percent of its global revenue, or up to 20 percent for repeat infractions.

The Commission says its investigation found that iPadOS users are locked into the platform, noting that the number of business users exceeded the quantitative gatekeeper threshold by “eleven times,” while end user numbers were “close to the threshold and are predicted to rise in the near future.” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager also said the investigation showed that “despite not meeting the thresholds, iPadOS constitutes an important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers.”

The company’s iOS mobile operating system, Safari browser, and App Store were already designated as Gatekeeper services under the DMA in September 2023 (when the iPadOS investigation was announced) eventually forcing the company to introduce regional changes like alternative app marketplaces within the EU. Despite extreme similarities between the two platforms, most of the DMA compliance changes Apple has made to iOS haven’t been extended to iPadOS. 

While iMessage may have been spared from DMA compliance, the latest ruling on iPadOS is yet another prominent crack in the walled garden of Apple’s ecosystem. The EU’s announcement comes just prior to Apple’s next event on May 7th, in which iPads — including a long-rumored OLED model — are expected to take center stage.