UK Revives Antitrust Probe Into Apple's Browser and Cloud Gaming Restrictions

Apple faces a renewed comprehensive investigation into its dominance in mobile browsers and cloud gaming following a ruling by London's Court of Appeal (via Bloomberg). The court's decision effectively reverses a previous verdict that had halted the probe, reinforcing the authority of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

app store blue banner uk fixed
In November 2022, the CMA launched an investigation into the cloud gaming and mobile browser restrictions put in place by both Apple and Google, suggesting that the two companies were holding back innovation and increasing costs for web developers, cloud gaming service providers, and browser vendors. This decision was initially overturned by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which agreed with Apple that the CMA took too long to open an investigation.

The Court of Appeal's latest judgment clarified that the CMA acted within its legal bounds, rejecting Apple's argument regarding time limits. The ruling emphasized that such restrictions apply only to consultation processes within a market study and do not limit the CMA's broader investigative powers.

The court highlighted the CMA's role in promoting competition and safeguarding consumer interests, pointing out the potential "serious consequences" of restricting these powers. The CMA's investigation, which remains paused pending Apple's option of a Supreme Court appeal, is set to resume efforts to scrutinize the company's influence in the mobile browser market and its approach to cloud gaming on the App Store.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...

Top Rated Comments

Spaceboi Scaphandre Avatar
25 months ago

What is it with all this European insanity against Apple ?
Because unlike us in the United States, Europe actually has proper consumer protection laws.

EDIT: Damn this did numbers lol
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
breather Avatar
25 months ago

What is it with all this European insanity against Apple ? Entrenched interests can't compete fair and square with them, so get their governments to take them down a peg.

I tell you what: Steve would've pulled Apple out of Europe.
Then he would be fired for incompetence. Pulling out of such a lucrative market is stupid.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
25 months ago

I tell you what: Steve would've pulled Apple out of Europe.
Amazing that you know what Steve Jobs would do.



Attachment Image
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
webkit Avatar
25 months ago

Once Apple is forced to allow native third party browsing engines in iOS, Google’s victory in web engine technology will be nearly complete, as in practice Chromium/Blink and Safari/WebKit are the only ones remaining.

Amazing accomplishment from the regulators ?
The idea here is to allow users decide which browser engine they want to use on iOS instead of being forced to use WebKit. If Apple wants to see broader use of WebKit, perhaps more improvements to Safari and/or broader availability (Android, Windows, etc.) is the answer. Restricting browser engine choice on a major mobile OS is not the answer.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Fan 2008 Avatar
25 months ago
Here we go again…

Attachment Image
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sophisticatednut Avatar
25 months ago

Once Apple is forced to allow native third party browsing engines in iOS, Google’s victory in web engine technology will be nearly complete, as in practice Chromium/Blink and Safari/WebKit are the only ones remaining.

Amazing accomplishment from the regulators ?
And what’s the issue? It’s kind of apple’s problem if they can’t compete with blink, it’s not the government’s problem that Apple isn’t able to compete with a superior browser according to users. ?‍♂️

If Blink wins then consumers have voted on the best browser.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)