Apple is hosting its annual developer conference this week, and the big news so far has been all about AI. The company announced a new partnership with OpenAI and a deep integration of AI tools across the next version of the iPhone’s operating system, iOS 18. It’s a major collaboration between two Silicon Valley giants, and it’s already reshuffling the internal politics of the industry: OpenAI co-founder-turned-rival Elon Musk did not take the announcement well, threatening to ban iPhones at his companies if the changes go through.
But while AI dominated the headlines, Apple made a smaller announcement at Monday’s keynote that could have a far greater impact. While running through a list of new features in iOS 18, Apple’s software chief, Craig Federighi, said that iMessage will support RCS messaging, an open protocol intended to succeed SMS. It might sound like a dry, technical change, but it’s a big step in leveling the walled garden Apple has built around iMessage. And given iMessage’s huge presence in the U.S. — and minimal presence everywhere else — that could make a huge difference in tearing down global tech barriers.
Right now, iMessage users effectively have two choices in the app: They can send iMessages to other Apple users or SMS messages to anyone else, like Android users. Encased in their iconic blue bubbles, iMessages are free and support group chats, pictures, and more. SMS, meanwhile, only allows for shorter, no-frills messaging with lower-quality images — and often costs money to send. Worst of all, they’re displayed to iPhone users as green bubbles: a badge of shame so notable in the U.S. that lawmakers have threatened to intervene. RCS promises an alternative, bringing all of the advantages of modern chat apps like iMessage and WhatsApp, but as an open standard that could solve the global fragmentation of messaging services.
Apple is in the business of selling iPhones, and iMessage is a tool to sell more of them.
More than any other Silicon Valley company, Apple profits from that fragmentation and has worked to prolong it. IMessage is great, but it’s for iPhone users only — and Apple has refused to expand it to other operating systems. When other Apple executives proposed an iMessage app for Android in 2017, Federighi shot the idea down, saying “iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove an obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.” Fundamentally, Apple is in the business of selling iPhones, and iMessage is a tool to sell more of them.
So, what’s changed since then? For one, Apple is facing serious pressure from European regulators under the Digital Markets Act, which requires messaging services to move towards interoperability in the coming years. That same pressure has seen WhatsApp teasing its own plan for interoperability earlier this year, based on explicit opt-ins and a “third-party chats” system. If Apple or Meta didn’t take these steps on their own now, there’s a good chance they would be forced to take them later.
The exciting thing about Apple’s announcement is the broader move towards interoperability. There’s a long way to go still — WhatsApp doesn’t support RCS, and there’s no guarantee Apple will sign on to the WhatsApp plan. But this was the first sign that the company, once so intent on keeping a walled garden, is softening on the issue. And given that where Apple goes, others often follow, it’s something to be optimistic about.
