Apple is gearing up to present its ongoing dispute with Epic Games regarding App Store fees to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a recent court filing, Apple expressed its intention to seek a review of a specific aspect of this lengthy legal battle.
Meanwhile, Apple is attempting to pause an appellate court’s ruling that restricts its ability to manage charges for external payments. This dispute sparked in 2020 when Epic Games, known for its Fortnite title, incorporated external payment options in its app to evade Apple’s App Store fees. Although Apple largely triumphed in the 2021 court ruling—where it was deemed not to be a monopoly—the judge mandated that Apple permit developers to link to outside payment methods.
Despite this, Apple appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which chose not to hear the case, thereby upholding the Ninth Circuit Court’s original ruling. Subsequently, Apple began to accept external payments but imposed a 27% commission on developers opting for their own payment systems, a minor reduction from the standard 30% fee. In contrast, Google reached a settlement with Epic last month, lowering its Play Store commissions to 20%.
Epic Games contended that Apple’s 27% fee contradicted the court’s order, as this charge did not translate into significant savings for developers who faced additional payment processing costs. Consequently, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California sided with Epic, finding Apple in contempt, a decision which was later confirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2025. The appellate court noted that Apple’s fee effectively negated the allowance of external payments while not proposing an alternative rate. The case is scheduled to return to a lower court for further resolution, after Apple’s request for a rehearing on the matter was dismissed in March 2026.
With no further recourse available in the Ninth Circuit, Apple is now poised to take its argument to the Supreme Court, where it aims to contest the legal standards applied to hold it in contempt. The tech giant will advocate that courts should not be empowered to impose limitations on service fees, maintaining that its 27% charge encompasses various services, such as hosting and developer tools, thus reflecting the overall value of its App Store ecosystem.
However, given the Supreme Court’s prior decision to bypass Apple’s earlier appeal, which addressed a different issue, it remains uncertain whether the Court will consider this latest case. For now, the question of what commission, if any, Apple can legally charge for external purchases is set to return to a lower court.
Ultimately, the resolution of this legal conflict could significantly influence Apple’s revenue from its App Store, especially as users increasingly migrate towards AI chatbots and agents for their online transactions.
Fanpage: TechArena.au
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