In re Apple Inc. Smartphone Antitrust Litigation

Private antitrust cases often follow a government complaint. Here they were centralized so Apple is not deposed twice on the same facts.

The private plaintiffs still have to prove their own damages and, if they want a class, that the claims are common enough to try together.

Coordination fights — who asks questions, for how long — are the 2026 docket. They are not a ruling on whether Apple broke the law.

A class case is how phone buyers would seek money, which the DOJ suit does not focus on.

Discovery fights decide what documents both cases see.

The same exclusionary design the DOJ describes harmed buyers and developers.

Damages, not only an injunction, are on the table.

Apple says the private claims have the same flaws as the government case.

It says any coordination of depositions should not expand the time it spends under oath.

Being an iPhone user does not automatically put you in a class.

No settlement or judgment for consumers had been entered as of October 2026.