Apple and the US Department of Justice are in early talks to settle the antitrust case filed against the company in 2024.
The DOJ sued Apple two years ago, alleging it used its control over the iPhone ecosystem to shut out competitors. Since then, Apple has made multiple settlement offers, and discussions are described as active — though no deal is guaranteed and the talks remain preliminary.
Setting a deal now would let Apple avoid a potentially years-long trial and the risk of court-ordered remedies it couldn't control. For the DOJ, a negotiated settlement can move faster than litigation and still extract meaningful concessions — assuming the terms hold up.
Apple has watched the DOJ's parallel pursuit of Google play out in court, with a federal judge finding Google's search deals anticompetitive. Settling early looks like the less risky path — though what Apple is actually offering to give up remains the open question.