An upcoming iPhone update has raised alarm among Republican fundraisers in the US. Here's why

An upcoming iPhone update from Apple has raised an alarm among Republicans fundraisers in the United States, who fear it could block key voter outreach and fundraising messages. Tech giant's new filtration system, due for rollout in September, may disproportionately impact Republican campaigns that rely heavily on text-based outreach, Fox News reported.

According to a report in Campaigns and Elections, the GOP’s Senate campaign arm is warning that a coming update to Apple’s iOS could cost the committee more than $25 million in lost fundraising. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sounded an alarm over a July 2024 memo that the new spam filters for text messages which Apple is set to roll out as part of iOS 26.

Those filters will send messages from numbers that are not in a users’ contacts to a separate folder for unknown senders. iPhone users will then have the chance to mark the number as known, reply to the message or delete it altogether. That creates a headache for political fundraisers, according to the NRSC’s memo, because iPhone users aren’t likely to check their unknown senders folder. Consequently, it argues, a large swath of political outreach, including GOTV messages to fundraising texts, will go unnoticed.

Text messages from known numbers saved on an individual's phone are expected to continue alerting recipients and sending the messages to their typical text app.

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Apple's new update is headache for Republicans

Sean Dollman, founding partner of American Made Media Company, which was the parent firm of Launchpad Strategies and was the exclusive digital agency for Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, said that the move was no surprise.

"It’s no surprise that Big Tech wants to stop Donald Trump and other Republicans from communicating with people, because they’ve tried every other method to interfere already," Sean Dollman, founding partner of American Made Media Company, the parent company of Launchpad Strategies, which was the exclusive digital firm for Trump 2024, told Fox News Digital.

"Big Tech has suppressed him, suspended him, and banned him outright. And now they’re trying to make it so he can’t text anybody either. But MAGA won’t be stopped, and MAGA will always find a way."

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Apple is expected to roll out its latest update, iOS 26, in September. Launchpad Strategies served as the Trump 2024 campaign’s exclusive digital firm, raising $509 million for Trump and a further $18 million from 40 other clients during the election year.

In addition to the text filters, the new software is expected to introduce other features like call screening, which will field phone calls from numbers not in a users’ contacts by collecting the caller’s name and the reason for the call. The iPhone user will then be able to choose whether to take the call or decline it.

Launchpad Strategies acted as the exclusive digital firm for Trump’s 2024 campaign, managing online advertising and strategic consulting during his decisive victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris. According to its website, the firm continues to operate as a “full-service Republican digital agency committed to helping campaigns win.”

Fox Digital reported that Launchpad raised an astonishing $509 million for Trump’s 2024 campaign, alongside an additional $18 million from 40 other clients during the record-breaking election year.

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Why is it important?

Data from the 2024 election cycle shows that Republicans relied on text messaging twice as much as Democrats, leaving them particularly exposed if Apple’s new filter takes effect this September. The timing is especially crucial with the midterms approaching, as Democrats see an opportunity to regain control of both the House and Senate.

Screenshots of recent fundraising texts, reviewed by a US-based news outlet, highlight how central Donald Trump remains to the strategy. Supporters are encouraged to save his number in their contacts or reply directly to build a message history.

The texts are crafted to feel personal and interactive: one reads, “From Trump: Did you save my number yet?” Another urges, “Download the Trump Contact Card to add me to your address book.” Some go even further, prompting recipients with messages like, “Trump: If you had 5 minutes with me, what would you say? No links. I just want your reply below.”

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Republicans argue the change, timed months before midterm campaigning heats up, could cost them more than $25 million in fundraising revenue, according to a July memo from the National Republican Senate Committee, cited by Punchbowl News.

Republican strategists have pointed to a striking comparison with a previous Gmail controversy. According to a 2022 study by North Carolina State University’s Department of Computer Science, Gmail routinely delivered emails from left-leaning politicians to inboxes, while flagging over two-thirds of Republican messages as spam.

Republicans claim this biased filtering cost them billions. Fox News Digital reported that, drawing on data from the Republican National Committee and its congressional affiliates, Gmail’s system contributed to nearly $2 billion in lost fundraising between 2019 and 2022. During the 2020 election cycle alone, GOP candidates raised $737 million through the WinRed platform—but only 32% of their emails reached supporters, leading the party to estimate a staggering $1.5 billion in missed contributions.