Feds Sue Apple, Accuse Tech Giant Of Creating Monopoly

CUPERTINO, CA — Federal authorities have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging the Silicon Valley titan intentionally made it harder for third-party apps and products to work with its iPhone, driving up prices and harming competition.

The lawsuit was brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general, including Attorney General Rob Bonta of California.

“Apple’s anticompetitive conduct intentionally leaves consumers bearing the cost of sky-high smartphone prices at a time when smartphones are now essential to so much of our day-to-day lives,” Bonta said in a news release. “In insulating itself from competition, Apple has caused harm to consumers and the market. This is illegal.”

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a New Jersey federal court, alleges the company violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act prohibiting monopolization, according to Bonta’s office.

"Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Apple is accused of introducing incompatibilities to stop Android users from seamlessly messaging iPhone users, blocking cloud gaming services on iPhones by refusing to list such apps on its app store, and limiting functionality for third-party cross-platform smartwatches, according to Bonta’s office.

Apple called the lawsuit "wrong on the facts and the law" and said it "will vigorously defend against it."

The Cupertino-based tech giant is the world’s most prosperous company with an annual revenue of almost $400 billion, although its shares have fallen by 7 percent in 2024.

Apple said the lawsuit, if successful, would "hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect" and would "set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology."

With the attempt to rein in Apple's dominance, President Joe Biden's administration is escalating an antitrust siege that has already triggered lawsuits against Google and Amazon accusing them of engaging in illegal tactics to thwart competition, as well as unsuccessful attempts to block acquisitions by Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta Platforms.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.