You don't need to be the most eagle-eyed follower of technology to know that, right now at least, the Digital Markets Act is the talk of the town. We'd known that it was coming for months, but now that it's here we are starting to learn more and more not only about its potential limitations in terms of affecting real change but also how Apple intends to abide by the rules it brings forth. On the subject of the latter, it seems that the DMA can be thanked for Apple's plans to offer a new way for people to migrate away from the iPhone and over to Android.
According to Apple, it plans to make further changes beyond the ones that we've already seen, although it isn't yet clear whether they will only apply to those in the European Union or if we can expect the same alterations to be rolled out to iPhone owners everywhere. One of the changes that has captured the attention is Apple's decision to begin work on a new migration solution that will make it easier than ever to switch away from the iPhone and over to "a non-Apple phone." We assume that Apple is talking about Android here for obvious reasons.
However, those hoping to have a clear pathway when moving from their iPhone 14 Pro to, say, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra might have to wait a little while. In fact, they could be waiting until a whole new generation of devices arrives with Apple putting a fall 2025 timeframe on things.
The ol' switcheroo
Apple confirmed its plans as part of a larger document that outlines how it will be complying with the DMA that comes into force today, March 7.
"Apple plans to make further changes to its user data portability offering," the document explains. "Third parties offer migration solutions that help users transfer data between devices with different operating systems. To build on those options, Apple is developing a solution that helps mobile operating system providers develop more user-friendly solutions to transfer data from an iPhone to a non-Apple phone." Apple goes on to say that fall 2025 is the latest that it expects to make this new solution available.
This all sounds like other phone companies will need to pick up whatever Apple lays down as part of this new solution, but that's something that the likes of Samsung, Google, and others are sure to want to do — after all, reducing the friction that could get in the way of people switching from iPhones benefits them greatly.
As part of Apple's data portability plans it confirmed that it "is also creating a browser switching solution for exporting and importing relevant browser data into another browser on the same device." Apple confirmed that it intends to make this solution available to users by late 2024 or early 2025.
The DMA is now being enforced and Apple has already had to open up the iPhone to third-party app stores and more as a result. The company has also already found itself on the receiving end of a $2 billion EU fine over its App Store rules on the eve of the DMA coming online.
While the DMA only affects users in the European Union, all eyes will now be on global lawmakers to see if they begin to follow suit.
