The European Commission issued a fine of 1.8 billion euros against Apple on Tuesday for violations of the Digital Markets Act, finding that the company’s App Store policies continued to prevent developers from freely steering users toward purchasing options available outside Apple’s ecosystem in a manner that complies with the requirements of the regulation. The fine, which represents approximately 1.1 percent of Apple’s 2025 annual revenue, is the largest penalty issued under the DMA since the regulation came into force and marks an escalation of the EU’s enforcement action against major technology platforms.

The Commission’s investigation found that while Apple had made modifications to its App Store policies following the DMA’s implementation in early 2024, the changes were insufficient to achieve genuine compliance with the regulation’s anti-steering requirements. Specifically, the Commission found that Apple’s implementation of the ‘link-out’ permission – which is supposed to allow developers to direct users to their own websites to complete purchases at lower prices – imposed technical and design requirements that made the feature difficult to use in practice and effectively discouraged developers from employing it. The Commission described Apple’s approach as implementing ‘the letter but not the spirit’ of the DMA’s requirements.

Executive Vice President for Competition Margrethe Vestager said the fine reflects both the severity of the violation and the importance of the DMA as a regulatory framework for ensuring competitive digital markets. “Apple had the obligation to allow developers to steer consumers to better offers,’ Vestager said in a statement. ‘Instead, Apple chose to implement compliance measures designed to preserve the commercial status quo while appearing to satisfy the regulation’s requirements. This is not acceptable, and today’s decision makes clear that the Commission will not tolerate cosmetic compliance.” Reuters Legal reported that the Commission’s decision runs to more than 400 pages and includes detailed technical analysis of the specific interface and policy requirements Apple imposed on developers seeking to use the link-out feature.

Apple disputed the Commission’s findings and said it would appeal the decision to the EU’s General Court. “We strongly disagree with the Commission’s findings and believe that our App Store policies comply fully with both the letter and the spirit of the Digital Markets Act,’ the company said in a statement. ‘We have made significant changes to our systems in the European Economic Area to achieve compliance with the DMA, and we will continue to engage constructively with the Commission.” Legal analysts noted that Apple has a strong track record of contesting regulatory fines through the EU court system, and that the General Court process could take several years, during which Apple would not be required to pay the fine.

The DMA fine comes at a sensitive moment for Apple’s relationship with European regulators. The company is already contesting a separate investigation into whether its iOS interoperability obligations comply with the DMA, and it faces ongoing antitrust scrutiny in Germany and the Netherlands. SCOTUSblog‘s European law correspondent noted that the cumulative regulatory exposure Apple faces across EU member states and at the Commission level has grown substantially in 2025 and 2026, and that the company has been forced to devote significant legal and engineering resources to regulatory compliance across the region. Apple’s EEA revenue represents approximately 25 percent of its total global revenue.

Shares of Apple fell 1.4 percent following the announcement of the fine, reflecting investor concerns about both the immediate financial impact and the potential for additional regulatory actions. Analysts at Law360 noted that the Commission’s findings could be used as a template for enforcement actions in other jurisdictions that have enacted similar platform regulation, including the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. The European fine is likely to be cited in ongoing legislative and regulatory proceedings in Japan, South Korea, and Australia, all of which have enacted or are considering measures targeting app store practices similar to those that the EU has now penalized Apple for maintaining.