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> And I'd do the same with Meta, Apple, etc. When I worked at Apple in SWE I worked on macOS and iOS (and tvOS and ipadOS). None of the things I worked on were

> And I'd do the same with Meta, Apple, etc. When I worked at Apple in SWE I worked on macOS and iOS (and tvOS and ipadOS). None of the things I worked on were sold as individual SKUs. The money came from selling hardware. Software was a thing that helped sell the hardware since the OS turned it from a hunk of electronics into a product. How could you possibly propose Apple be split up? The same base OS is used in all their products so you can't split out macOS and iOS. The hardware all comes out of the same hardware engineering group. All splitting up Apple does is reduce competition because there would be the iPhone company that takes all the engineering resources. The remaining rump companies would need to back fill engineering resources at great expense. If the rump companies "partner" with the iPhone company they're just less efficient versions of the old similar company. Either that or they just get bought by another company and there's less competition or ownership by a geopolitical rival. The break-ups of Standard Oil and AT&T were workable because they could easily be split among divisional or geographic lines. Splitting up Google or Apple is either completely ineffective as it's just creating "partners" or the rump companies die out because they can't leverage higher margin parts of the larger company.

danaris 2y ago
The way to hit Apple with antitrust is to break off the App Stores themselves, since that's the point of monopolization. Make Apple's apps all operate by exactly the same rules as everyone else's—including rules governing private APIs. Make the formerly-Apple App Store compete with other App Stores in a similar way to what they've introduced in the EU, but on a more even footing. Personally, I'm still not entirely sold on this being a good idea—but IMO it's the one way of breaking up Apple that actually makes any sense.
- Spartan-S63 2y ago
  Same, the services and hardware businesses are the only valid breakup case and it’s true that Apple favors its own services. I’m also in agreement that it’s not clear such a break up would be beneficial.
jemmyw 2y ago
Services like Apple Music where they're currently able to leverage their ownership of the app store to give themselves a competitive advantage can be spilt off quite easily (in conceptual terms) and stand by themselves. If they can't stand by themselves then they're being bolstered by their market position thus the reason

danaris 2y ago

The way to hit Apple with antitrust is to break off the App Stores themselves, since that's the point of monopolization. Make Apple's apps all operate by exactly the same rules as everyone else's—including rules governing private APIs. Make the formerly-Apple App Store compete with other App Stores in a similar way to what they've introduced in the EU, but on a more even footing. Personally, I'm still not entirely sold on this being a good idea—but IMO it's the one way of breaking up Apple that actually makes any sense.

Spartan-S63 2y ago
Same, the services and hardware businesses are the only valid breakup case and it’s true that Apple favors its own services. I’m also in agreement that it’s not clear such a break up would be beneficial.

jemmyw 2y ago

Services like Apple Music where they're currently able to leverage their ownership of the app store to give themselves a competitive advantage can be spilt off quite easily (in conceptual terms) and stand by themselves. If they can't stand by themselves then they're being bolstered by their market position thus the reason