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Apple Could Soon Face 'Sweeping' U.S. Antitrust Lawsuit

You choose Apple because you like their products and services, not because they're closed. Being closed does not benefit you. You just put up with it because you assume that's the reason the products are good. If you're rich, then you don't even mind because you can afford all the "Apple Approved" products and services.

There's no technical reason you couldn't use your own server, or Google Drive, for syncing Photos or Messages. There's no technical reason you can't use iMessage on Android, or vice versa. There's no technical reason you can't install macOS on a PC, or run software outside the App Store on your iPhone. There's no technical reason non-Apple branded mice suck on macOS, or non-Apple branded wireless headphones suck on iOS. It's not because Apple is so good at everything they do, it's because they put in a lot of effort to create proprietary technologies that they don't let anyone else use and of course they are required for their devices. We have nothing to loose if pressure is put on Apple to make steps towards being less like that.
 
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I'd imagine majority of this forum is based in the US. Quite easy for them to say 'Pull out of Europe' because they thought their own Govt would leave Apple alone. Apparently now that maybe about to change, they can't apply their original logic to themselves.

wanha said:
Weird that no one here is calling Apple to pull out of the US market
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ryan102 said:
I'd imagine majority of this forum is based in the US. Quite easy for them to say 'Pull out of Europe' because they thought their own Govt would leave Apple alone. Apparently now that maybe about to change, they can't apply their original logic to themselves.
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I disagree. The US government is the appropriate authority to look into a US company.

The EU bullying around a US company is different. The EU picks at US based companies for being successful and hurting local competition, a la Spotify.
 
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when you first purchase an Apple phone you know what it can do. and can't.
if you dont like the "walled garden" and apps available, buy something else.
your choice. hence not a monopoly.

this is a case of people wanting their cake and eating it as well.
if you want devices that seamlessly work together, privacy, security there are tradeoffs you have to accept.

perhaps people should read their User Agreements better.
you might buy the hardware but you dont own the software or have rights to do anything with it apart from use it.
break those terms and you own a piece of junk without software.

i'd be happy for the few of you who want to open your phones up to make it a one way street.
you get to choose - do i want to pick app store, apps and payments?
if you do, then you get it but you lose any app that Apple no deems too risky.
you take the risk not the rest of us.
regular people just use their phones.
i think a very very small and vocal minority are making noise on this.
i have yet to meet a regular non techie who says "i wish i could buy apps from somewhere else"
 
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charlesdayton said:
The DOJ should sue Nintendo big time!!!

I tried to put my PS5 and Xbox games into the Switch cartridge slot and they do not fit!!! That’s an unlawful monopoly!!!
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my Samsung remote wont work on my Sony tv either. monopoly! :)

lets go further...

my Amex card gets charged higher because it is Amex. why should it?
my tv lacks apps i want. Samsung should let anyone make apps available...
my Nintendo wont let me play music and videos off an SD card. other handhelds can. Sue them to put VLC on Switch.
 
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erikkfi said:
Continue only downloading apps from the Apple App Store when sideloading free installation of applications is possible on iOS and iPadOS, as it is on macOS.
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i dont want your sideloaded Apple device having system level access that could interact with the rest of the native Apple only apps. Seen enough Android infected devices crash company email and spread viruses.

id love to know what apps are so important that you need to load them onto your phone.

most jail broken devices for the last 20 years have just loaded pirated software they didnt want to pay for. i have yet to read a post from anyone who loaded a paid app... happy for you to answer if you know and verified examples that have been legit loaded for other reasons...
 
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tgwaste said:
Thanks for your sacrifice. Communism and Socialism doesn't work.
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I'm be sure to tell the Catholic Church that Jesus was wrong and the religion should start teaching greed and wealth accumulation.
We don't know how large a scale communism or socialism could work on as all prior large scale attempts at implementation have been colored by maniacal dictators. But this is for sure there's a few billion people on the world that profess a faith that is based on those social systems.
 
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icanhazmac said:
  • How the Apple Watch works better with iPhone than other smart watches do.
    • Do Chevy engines work better with Chevys than Fords?
    • Or... does the Chevy Infotainment system work better with a Chevy than a Ford?
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The point is other smartwatches are clearly limited on iOS and can't even get close to an Apple watch no matter what. You can literally built the most incredible smartwach hardware possible today and it functionality will still pe limited on iOS.
 
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latweek said:
Let's move the goalposts back. Try to remember that everyone is NOT YOU. The government isn't of, by and for Apple fanboys.
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why do you think you can move the goalposts when you agreed to the Terms when you bought the device?

not everyone is the super vocal minority calling to open devices up.
most people couldnt give a flying fig over Message bubble colours.
nor do they want to install lots of apps from dubious sources.
Apple devices appeal to a lot of people because they are locked down.

tell me what you want to install that is so imperative to your use of a phone...
 
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Mrkevinfinnerty said:
It isn't. Still doesn't excuse the fact that Apple had a good old go at using their platform to hobble a competitor.
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how exactly is allowing an app into the app store hobbling a competitor?
Spotify dont want to pay the fees is the real issue.

they are very happy to have their app there. and use all the backend app store stuff that Apple provides.
Spotify are very happy to pay content providers very little as well from their income stream.
Perhaps Spotify should spend time providing the High Res files they promised years ago instead of whinging?
 
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If there wasn't any genuine competition they'd have a point. Apple products outside of tablets I'm guessing are not a majority of each market segment? They've built the hardware and software from the ground up precisely for the integration and walled garden model. As other's have posted it's no different to Sony not supporting Microsoft XBox games. Both console manufacturers have games exclusive to their platform. What next? I can't fit parts from a BMW into a Mercedes?
 
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We must have the right to jailbreak or at least use any software we want, the devices are OURS!. We should have choices about where to download and how much to pay.
We can choose where to refuel, we can get our games from Toys are us or Walmart, etc. we need the right to choosez
 
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M3gatron said:
The point is other smartwatches are clearly limited on iOS and can't even get close to an Apple watch no matter what. You can literally built the most incredible smartwach hardware possible today and it functionality will still pe limited on iOS.
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And that’s exactly the way it should be. Proprietary value added products by a manufacturer work better together. My damn HondaLink app doesn’t work with my Tesla. The government should investigate Honda.
 
zubikov said:
This shouldn't be viewed as Apple doing anything good or bad. If Apple wouldn't be here, another public company would gladly take their place.

This should be viewed a problem that a $3 trillion market cap company will eventually face. There's no good proxy for this size; not even standard oil. When a company grows this large, and is this successful, with such market concentration in so many segments, there will eventually be some antitrust action.
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Exactly. There have been a number of large companies that faced the same issue. Standard Oil, AT&T, Kodak… the list does on. When you’re as big as Apple you gotta make adjustment.
 
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icanhazmac said:
No I didn't.

I bought into the Apple "walled garden" with open eyes and on purpose. I appreciate a one stop shop for researching apps, paying for apps/subs, updating apps and customer service. As a consumer I value all of these things and am perfectly willing to pay for this one of a kind ecosystem. Hence I, believe the 30% Apple collects for these services is appropriate, app stores cost money to operate.

  • I have no interest in what alt stores will bring, which is a fragmentation of the store experience, just like on the Mac/PC side. I don't want to visit every single manufacturers individual web site to research their app x10 that I can find on a web search, I want 1 stop shopping, that's what I paid for.
  • I don't want to trust the bargain basement payment processors that indie devs might choose to save a couple of bucks.
  • I have no interest in having to create login accounts for untold numbers of app stores. Rest assured this will occur as the likes of Epic, Amazon, Meta, Steam, Microsoft, etc. will open their own stores and pay devs for exclusive distribution.
So no, I didn't miss any point. I simply don't find anything wrong with the status quo except as noted.
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Funny thing -- I've never ONCE searched for something in the App Store I didn't already know I wanted. NEVER. I find things on the web. So using the App Store as my app department store to go browsing is not my (and probably most other people's) thing.

Second, Apple's policies can change. Apple Pay can still be used and the cost would be minimum. When I pay at a physical store with Apple Pay, you think Apple gets 30%? No. So the same rules can apply to developers.

Third, my discussion isn't about other apps store so not interested in that. I come to Apple's App Store because I have to. I have no choice. It works. If get an app with a subscription and can pay LESS for the product by Apple changing how it charges, then that's good too. I'd be just as happy side-loading an app direct from a trusted site and paying through the app with Apple Pay. At a minimum, I use Apple's secure payment system but that surely isn't worth 30%.
 
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No matter who “wins” the losers will be the customers. All those Legal costs are going to be added to the cost-of-doing-business side of the ledger. MSRPs will be adjusted correspondingly to maintain margins and shareholder value. Start saving your money now folks.
 
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JoshuaBru said:
Exactly. There have been a number of large companies that faced the same issue. Standard Oil, AT&T, Kodak… the list does on. When you’re as big as Apple you gotta make adjustment.
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AT&T is no comparison to apple. And if we learn anything the break up of AT&T did not really benefit consumers in the long run. AT&T was a monopoly plain and simple in many business segments.

Apple is a consumer lifestyle company producing premium products. There is no monopoly in the smartphone marching market space. Apple has withstood the suit brought by Epic.

They say competition is good, but not when it comes to malware, phishware, scamware, etc.
 
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