Apple’s long, bitter App Store antitrust war

March 29, 2026 Adi Robertson

Gavel, justice scales, and Apple logo coming out of an Apple desktop window.

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How it started

The year was 1998, and reigning personal computer giant Microsoft was on trial for violating antitrust laws, including by targeting its smaller competitor Apple. Apple occupied only a fraction of the PC market, while Microsoft held north of 80 percent. But its cross-platform QuickTime multimedia player threatened Microsoft's own offerings, and a court determined that Microsoft …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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