Russia has escalated its long-running dispute with Apple by opening an antitrust case that could cost the iPhone maker nearly $50 million over its refusal to preload state-backed apps.
After years of threatening to do so, Russia has finally begun investigating Apple after it failed to preinstall state-backed apps onto devices in the country. The apps in question are Max, a state-backed messaging service, and RuStore, a domestic app store.
"The company did not comply with the FAS warning to preinstall the national messaging app and the national app store on its iOS devices (iPhone, iPad). The FAS opened a case against the company in accordance with the competition law and the already established law-enforcement practice in regard to Apple," a statement seen by Interfax said.
If found guilty, Apple could face a 4 billion rubles fine, about $49.8 million.
Russia has been threatening some form of action for the better part of a decade. In 2019, it claimed that it would ban all devices, not just those from Apple, that failed to include select Russian-made software.
This raises the question of why Apple would be compelled to preinstall software on devices in the first place. Apple does not sell devices within the Russian market, either directly or through Authorized Apple Resellers.
The company has not done so since Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022. All devices sold within Russia are done so through third-party sales.
Apple and Russia's relationship
That's not to say that Apple hasn't complied with Russian requirements in the past. It has.
As The Moscow Times points out, Apple partially complied with Russia's warning by allowing a Russian search engine to be preinstalled in an updated version of iOS 26.6.
In July 2024, Apple removed VPN apps from the App Store in Russia. In October 2024 and November 2024, the company similarly removed independent media apps that contained content labeled "undesirable" by Russian authorities.
In February 2023, Apple also paid a $12.12 million antitrust fine for forcing iOS users to rely on its in-app purchase system. After Apple Ireland was fined for breaking sanctions against Russia in March 2026, however, subscriptions and payments for Apple Services are no longer available in Russia.
Despite Apple's periodic willingness to appease Russian authorities, the two continue to have a strained relationship. In September 2023, Apple warned Russian journalists of state-sponsored spyware, while Russian authorities claimed Apple was helping the United States spy on iPhone users.
