iOS 26.3 Brings AirPods-Like Pairing to Third-Party Devices in EU Under DMA

[chucker23n1]

I don’t think people understand that the DMA isn’t a consumer rights law it’s for the benefit of big and little tech companies.

It's both.

The DMA specifically targets Big Tech companies.[22] The DMA proposed to classify certain platforms, according to their number of users, capitalisation, market power or turnover, probably including Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon as "Gatekeepers" making them subject to new obligations.[37]

And:

In December 2020, the European Commission released a legislative proposal that intends to protect consumer welfare and to restore a level playing field in the European Union's digital market

In any case once again Apple’s American customers get the shaft while effectively subsiding Apple with tax breaks.

Apple's American consumers, just like European consumers, can vote for politicians who champion laws that reign in corporations. By and large, Americans have done the opposite. That's not Europe's fault.

 

[xyz01]

So Apple comes up with an innovative idea and solution that is part of its products and its business, and then some political authority forces them to make that feature work with competitors’ devices as well, essentially requiring them to weaken their own competitiveness. It’s a bit like if I were an ice cream vendor selling really great ice cream, then developed an amazing sauce specifically for my ice cream, and the EU said that I must also give my sauce to other ice cream vendors so they can put it on top of their own ice cream. The whole setup sounds rather strange.

No, it's the principle that you're not allowed to use dominant position in one market (phones) to squeeze out competition from a new field (headphones).

E.g, they're not allowed to make all other headphones artificially limited on sound quality in order to sell Apple headphones.

Or ensure that only Apple are available as a payment option from phones in stores etc.

 

[chucker23n1]

So Apple comes up with an innovative idea and solution that is part of its products and its business, and then some political authority forces them to make that feature work with competitors’ devices as well, essentially requiring them to weaken their own competitiveness. It’s a bit like if I were an ice cream vendor selling really great ice cream, then developed an amazing sauce specifically for my ice cream, and the EU said that I must also give my sauce to other ice cream vendors so they can put it on top of their own ice cream. The whole setup sounds rather strange.

That's a bit of a faulty analogy.

But if you want to go with vertical integration, sure. If your ice cream is so successful that you eventually buy up the leading chain of ice cream shops, and the biggest maker of ice cream machinery, and then make it harder or impossible for third parties to make their ice cream with your machines or or sell their ice cream at your shops, then yes, that will eventually draw the ire of regulators.

In this case, I wouldn't say "Apple bad". AirPods are great. I would, however, say that AirPods have now been around for nine years, and that's plenty of time for Apple to reap its competitive advantage.