Apple Gives Legal Middle Finger to DOJ Challenge on Apple’s July Discovery Win

Marcus Mendes at 9to5Mac has a fun update on U.S. v. Apple, the ill-considered antitrust case started by the Biden administration. A bunch of what the DOJ argues are anticompetitive features in Apple’s platforms, Apple argues are in fact privacy and security related.

Back in July Apple won a big discovery ruling — Apple asked for documents from 14 federal agencies — including the CIA, FBI, Department of Defense, NSA, and State Department — to see the reasons why those agencies purchase iPhones, iPads, and Macintosh computers. And in July, Apple won. They get to see what these federal agencies say about those features.

The DOJ filed a longshot “Hey, no fair” complaint trying to overrule that discovery ruling. Now Apple has filed a retort saying the July order should stand, and the DOJ should get ready to argue in court that it’s unlawful for Apple to implement the sort of features that are the very reason why security-minded federal agencies purchase Apple devices.

★ Tuesday, 18 August 2026