Apple’s settlement talks with the DOJ over its 2024 antitrust lawsuit have PayPal, Epic Games, and other developers worried that any deal will impose only light requirements, according to Aaron Tilley at The Information. The suit accuses Apple of keeping an illegal smartphone monopoly by limiting how outside apps and devices work with the iPhone, from rival smartwatches to tap-to-pay. DOJ officials have told developers they’d rather settle than go to trial and have asked them to propose interoperability fixes. Interim antitrust chief Stanley Woodward favors settlements as faster and cheaper, but nominee Adam Candeub’s pending Senate confirmation may be holding up a deal. Apple has made some interoperability changes since the suit but is likely to resist opening its ecosystem further.
