‘For too long, Apple has operated a walled garden around its products’: The EU forces Apple to open its closed system to third parties

Apple is well known for its closed ecosystem of tech, rather than its PC gaming. The brand has long been known to make systems or products that work far better with other Apple items than anything else. This walled garden presents a user experience that ranges from blissfully simple to frustratingly complicated depending on what side of the wall you’re on. It’s gotten to the point that the European Union has released a set of rules the American company must comply with in order to play fairer with the competition.

APNews reports these rules are in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act, which came into power in 2022, though this is the first time the EU has enforced them so specifically. The DMA is in place to make sure big tech companies can’t gatekeep, or force out smaller ones with things like the unnecessary proprietaries Apple is known for.

There are two sets of measures the EU commission has layed out that Apple is legally required to follow if it wants to keep trading in the European market. The first targets Apple’s connectivity features, with nine technologies within iOS coming under fire, while the second goes after transparency within the processes.

With the proposed connectivity changes, Apple will have to allow third parties greater access to features like AirDrop, Bluetooth pairing, peer-to-peer connectivity, and more. The second set of process changes ensures these parties can get access to updates, previously unavailable technical information, and reliable communication. Having both could be huge for third parties looking to develop for Apple products.

“For too long, Apple has operated a walled garden around its products and prevented interoperability,” Director General Agustin Reyna said.

As an outsider, when I talk to Apple people they’ll often sing the praises of how well everything works together, but there are two sides to that story. Often this comes at the purposeful and direct impediment of other non-Apple products working well. It’s a huge part of why Apple can charge so much for accessories, let alone devices themselves. Levelling this playing field should lead to more choices for everyone, inside the garden or out.

The EU’s proposed changes will give non-Apple products the ability to perform on the platform. If an iPhone user at least has the option to choose a non-Apple device that should work with most of their features, and probably save some money doing so, then we have the makings of some market competition. This means better products, at better prices, for everyone.

As an elder PC gamer, I still don’t expect every harddrive, keyboard, and certainly not videogame to work on Mac. The exclusion and price have been what’s kept me largely as far away from the iOS ecosystem as I can get, like a hungry little match girl looking in at the window. There are a lot of Apple features I’d love to have, and my old iPad Pro is a wonderful device that still kicks ass at all the things I wanted it for. If the EU can convince Apple to finally adopt full USB Type-C for the good of us all, then I’m hoping these rules will be the next step in bringing better tech to everyone, no matter our allegiances.