Apple Inc. (AAPL) and the US Justice Department are reportedly in early discussions to settle a 2024 lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker violated antitrust laws. The discussions are active, but there is no guarantee that the two sides will reach an agreement, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
Shares of AAPL were trading around 0.7% lower on Friday afternoon at the time of writing.
Apple, DOJ Discuss Settlement
Apple has made multiple offers this year to the Justice Department to bring the case to a close, the Bloomberg report said. No trial date has been set in the case, and settlement talks between the DOJ and companies can end without an agreement being reached, it noted.
The US government sued Apple under the Joe Biden administration as part of a broader push to rein in the power of major technology companies. In its complaint, the DOJ alleged that Apple hurt competitors, software developers, and consumers through its business practices. Apple lost a bid to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit in June 2025.
The Justice Department’s allegations focused on Apple’s restrictions around super apps, outside messaging solutions, cloud streaming apps, rival digital wallets, and competition in the smartwatch market.
The DOJ brought the case alongside a bipartisan group of 19 states and the District of Columbia. It remains unclear whether state attorneys general are involved in the settlement discussions.
AAPL Has Addressed Several Complaints
Apple has already made changes related to several of the DOJ’s complaints, including offering a mini apps program for developers, opening its Messages app to the Alphabet-led RCS messaging system, allowing cloud-streaming apps, and opening the iPhone’s payment chip to third-party apps.
The company still does not allow the Apple Watch to work with Android or non-Apple devices, but it has introduced new features aimed at making the experience of using a non-Apple Watch with an iPhone more seamless.
Earlier on Friday, (NVDA) as the world’s most valuable company during morning trading, reaching a market capitalization of $4.88 trillion. It marked the first time this year that Apple surpassed Nvidia’s market value.
AAPL Stock: What Stocktwits Retail Sentiment Says
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for AAPL was ‘bullish,’ unchanged in the past 24 hours, while message volume was ‘high’ at the time of writing.
Over the past seven days, message volume for the stock has surged 205%, while the ticker’s watcher base has risen 0.1% in the same period.
has gained over 21% year-to-date.