Apple faces a legally binding obligation to open its AirPlay and CarPlay protocols to third-party device makers under European Union interoperability rules that took effect this year.
The requirement stems from the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which designated Apple a “gatekeeper” under European Commission rules. Gatekeepers must allow rival services and hardware to interoperate with their core platform features.
What Must Change
AirPlay, Apple’s proprietary wireless streaming protocol, has until now functioned exclusively within Apple’s own hardware and a narrow set of licensed partners. Under the new rules, Apple must extend interoperability to third-party speakers, televisions, and other consumer electronics that request access.
CarPlay faces similar requirements. Competing in-car software systems must receive the same integration access Apple currently reserves for its own stack.
Apple has 12 months from the European Commission’s formal designation notice to demonstrate compliance, according to the European Commission's DMA implementation timeline.
Apple’s Position
Apple has contested elements of the DMA designation through EU legal channels. The company said the rules could force it to compromise user privacy and security by exposing core system interfaces to external developers.
That argument has not slowed enforcement. The Commission has proceeded with technical specification requirements on schedule.
Why It Matters
The DMA covers companies with a market capitalization above 75 billion euros or annual revenues above 7.5 billion euros in the EU, per European Commission figures. Apple’s market capitalization sits well above that threshold.
Non-compliance carries fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover, rising to 20% for repeat violations.
Apple's most recent annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reported global revenue of $383 billion for fiscal year 2023. A 10% penalty at that scale would exceed $38 billion.
Broader Context
The DMA targets a small group of large platform operators. Alongside Apple, the Commission designated Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft as gatekeepers, each facing their own sets of interoperability obligations.
For Apple, the streaming and in-car requirements represent some of the most technically specific mandates it has received from any regulator. Past EU enforcement against Apple focused primarily on the App Store and payment systems.
The App Store case resulted in Apple opening iOS to third-party app marketplaces in the EU earlier this year — a change Apple described as a risk to user security. The Commission said the move met the baseline DMA requirement but opened a separate investigation into whether Apple’s alternative fee structure for third-party stores satisfied the law’s spirit.
AirPlay was introduced by Apple in 2010 under the name AirTunes before expanding to video and screen mirroring. It has remained a closed protocol, with licensing terms that hardware partners described in trade publications as restrictive and costly.
