The UK consumer rights group Which? has filed a legal claim against Apple, accusing the company of anti-competitive practices regarding its iCloud cloud storage service. The lawsuit, lodged with the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), is seeking £3 billion (around $3.8 billion) in damages on behalf of approximately 40 million iCloud users.
Which? alleges that Apple has exploited its dominance in the iOS operating system market to unfairly push consumers towards iCloud, while making it difficult for them to use alternative cloud storage providers. The lawsuit claims that Apple has locked users into paying “rip-off” prices by providing preferential treatment to its own service and creating barriers to third-party options. Users who exceed the free 5GB storage limit are forced to pay for additional storage, with some users facing price hikes between 20% and 29% across iCloud’s storage tiers in 2023.
The claim asserts that Apple’s monopoly has inflated prices for UK consumers, with individual users potentially entitled to compensation of around £70 ($90) depending on how long they’ve paid for the service. A similar lawsuit has also been filed in the U.S., and remains pending.
The UK case operates on an opt-out basis, meaning that consumers who have used iCloud since October 1, 2015, will automatically be included unless they choose to opt-out. Litigation funding for the case is being provided by Litigation Capital Management (LCM), with Which? urging Apple to resolve the dispute by reimbursing affected users and opening up iOS to allow competition in the cloud services market.
If the CAT grants permission for Which? to proceed with the case, the litigation could set a significant precedent for future antitrust actions against Big Tech companies in the UK and beyond.
