Apple Supports RCS Messaging in China After New Law Requires it for 5G Certification
• Apple was effectively forced by China to support RCS on iPhones due to a new law requiring 5G devices to support RCS for certification in China • Chinese carriers have pushed RCS for years; now the Chinese government is codifying this into law for 5G device certification • RCS has no encryption provisions but China doesn't seem concerned about this • Apple would prefer not to support new non-encrypted or carrier-controlled protocols like RCS • The EU's Digital Markets Act likely did not play a role in Apple's decision, as iMessage is not big enough in the EU to fall under the DMA