The European Commission has classified Apple's iPadOS, the operating system for tablets, as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This designation requires that iPadOS adhere to DMA obligations within six months.

In a press release from the European Commission, it was disclosed that Apple was given this gatekeeper status in September 2023 for its Safari browser and App Store operating system (iOS). Concurrently, the commission initiated a market investigation to ascertain if iPadOS serves as an essential conduit for business users to connect with end users, thereby qualifying it as a gatekeeper.

The press release further elaborated on the findings of their assessment. It was revealed that Apple's business user numbers exceed the quantitative threshold by eleven times. Although end user numbers have not yet reached the threshold, they are anticipated to do so shortly. The study also demonstrated that both business and end users are "locked-in" to the operating system.

Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, stated in the press release: "Our market investigation showed that despite not meeting the thresholds, iPadOS constitutes an important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers. Today’s decision will ensure that fairness and contestability are preserved also on this platform, in addition to the 22 other services we designated last September. Apple has six months to make iPadOS compliant with the DMA."

The press release also mentioned that in September 2023, six entities were designated as gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft. All these entities were required to fully comply with DMA by March 7, 2024.