Criticism of Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. has been the subject of criticism and legal action. This includes its handling labor violations at its outsourced manufacturing hubs in China, its environmental impact of its supply chains, tax and monopoly practices, a lack of diversity and women in leadership in corporate and retail, various labor conditions (mishandling sexual misconduct complaints), and its response to worker organizing.

United States v. Apple is an antitrust lawsuit by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2024. The lawsuit contrasts the practices of Apple with those of Microsoft in United States v. Microsoft Corp., and alleges that Apple engages in similar tactics and committing even more egregious violations. This followed Epic Games v. Apple and the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act in the European Union.

Apple, Google, and other major technology companies illegally conspired in a "no-poaching" pact to prevent employees from seeking improved compensation, which The New York Times called "embarrassing." A class-action lawsuit was settled for $415 million in 2015.

Additionally the European Union fined Apple €1.84 billion (approximately $2 billion) in March 2024 for abusing its market power in the App Store with music streaming services by preventing developers from mentioning cheaper options to IOS users.

Apple has faced criticism for its aggressive enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights, including legal actions challenging various trademark applications. For example, The New York Times reported that Apple opposed trademarks such as a logo featuring three interlocking apples used by the Appleton Area School District, and a podcast named "Talk About Apples" created by an Atlanta-based artist. The company has also objected to trademark filings by Apple Urgent Care in California, artist Franki Pineapple, DOPi (a company that makes laptop bags and phone cases) for the lowercase i, and Woolworths Supermarkets, whose "W" logo resembles an apple. Critics have described these enforcement actions as examples of corporate overreach, with The New York Times referring to Apple's strategy as "bullying" and NBC News as "lunacy". In 2023, Apple sought IP rights over apple-related imagery in Switzerland, which drew further scrutiny over its approach to trademark enforcement. Smaller competitors told the United States Congress in 2020 that such "bullying" drives them out of business, stifling competition. The Register wrote in 2006 that Apple "sues itself in the foot" for a lawsuit against a community site for deep linking to the MacBook Pro service manual claiming the site infringed on their IP rights. Apple has pursued civil and criminal action against blogs over IP to maintain its culture of secrecy.

Apple has been criticized for the use of proprietary parts thereby thwarting self repair and servicing. Apple has similarly faced controversy for having proprietary content ecosystems where the corporation gets to set unilateral policy. These proprietary services include the iTunes music and the App Store where it gets to unilaterally determine what content will be hosted, margins, and pricing.

Employees have criticized Apple's culture of secrecy saying that levels of disclosure create hierarchies of superiority at the company. They said it wears developers down and isolates them from their loved ones. In 2017, an Apple engineer was fired after his daughter recorded a video of the new iPhone X in the cafeteria and posted it to YouTube. Employees and outsiders have described Apple's secretive culture as creating a culture of fear and oppression. One employee told The New York Times, "Never have I met people more terrified to speak out against their employer."

The Outline said the secrecy is a "needless cult" because it does not stop leaks. Apple has issued misinformation to find leakers and keep the media unsure of current developments. Apple coordinated 'controlled' leaks to the public to gauge viability of products such as the iPad. The Guardian reported research showing pre-release product information gives people the time and opportunity to consider their purchases carefully, but sudden product launches cause people to make purchases more impulsively.