Apple faces epochal moment with looming antitrust scrutiny

A potential antitrust lawsuit against Apple by the federal government could be as big a turning point in the company’s 48-year history as the return of founder Steve Jobs or the invention of the iPhone, according to legal experts.

A potential antitrust lawsuit against Apple by the federal government could be a turning point as big in the company’s 48-year history as the return of founder Steve Jobs or the invention of the iPhone, according to legal experts. Speculation about a landmark case is again on the rise after The New York Times reported Friday that the Justice Department is in the final stages of a years-long investigation into Apple, which could lead to a lawsuit later this year. The probe reportedly focuses on everything from the seamless integration between the iPhone and Apple Watch to the company’s digital payments system and Apple’s use of green text bubbles to differentiate Android text messages from iMessage communications — in short, a broad look at Apple’s tightly controlled, walled-garden ecosystem that’s turned it into $2.8 trillion behemoth. Apple — the most valuable company in the world — is the only leading tech giant the US government has yet to sue on antitrust grounds within the past few years. If antitrust officials do go after Apple, expect it to be a “full-frontal assault” on Apple’s business, said Adam Wolfson, an antitrust attorney at the law firm Quinn Emanuel. “Depending on what the Department of Justice actually alleges, it could potentially attack all the ways, or many of the ways, that Apple runs its business and maintains itself as one of the most profitable companies in the world,” Wolfson said. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.