Apple has spent much of 2026 arguing in European courtrooms that the Digital Markets Act asks too much of it. On July 8, 2026, the EU General Court gave its answer on three separate challenges at once, and it was no on all of them.

What the court actually decided

The General Court dismissed Apple’s appeal against its gatekeeper designation for both the App Store and iOS, confirming the obligations that follow from that status. It also ruled Apple’s challenge to iMessage’s non-designation as a gatekeeper service inadmissible, closing off a separate line of argument Apple had been pursuing. The most consequential piece, though, was procedural rather than substantive: Apple argued that the DMA’s interoperability obligations under Article 6(7) breach its fundamental rights, and the court found that provision is not the legal basis of the designation decision itself, so it declined to rule on the merits of that claim at all. Apple can still take the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe’s highest court, but only on points of law, not a fresh review of the facts.

Why the procedural finding matters more than it sounds

That framing, that gatekeepers must wait for a specific enforcement action before they can challenge a DMA obligation in the abstract, is the part worth paying attention to even if you have no direct stake in Apple’s litigation. It narrows the legal avenues available to every designated gatekeeper, not just Apple, to contest the DMA going forward, and it strengthens the European Commission’s hand as it continues expanding enforcement across the sector through 2026. Apple’s public position throughout has been that the interoperability mandate “goes beyond what is lawful and proportionate, threatening to erode decades of privacy and security protections.” The court was not persuaded, at least not procedurally, and the underlying obligations, opening the App Store and iOS to third-party marketplaces, giving developers more freedom over payment processing, and improving interoperability between iOS and other platforms, remain in force.

The practical question for developers and businesses

For any European business building on iOS, integrating with Apple’s ecosystem, or weighing whether to bring a third-party marketplace or alternative payment flow to market, this ruling removes a source of uncertainty rather than adding one: Apple’s room to argue its way out of interoperability obligations through this particular legal route has just gotten smaller, and the compliance requirements businesses have been planning around since the DMA’s gatekeeper designations took effect are not going away. That is worth factoring into any roadmap that has been sitting in a “wait and see if Apple wins” holding pattern.

If your organisation needs help assessing what DMA-driven interoperability changes mean for your iOS integration, payment flows, or App Store presence, or wants a clear-eyed compliance review instead of guessing at Apple’s next move, contact Excello Digital. We help European businesses plan around regulatory change rather than react to it.