Apple takes Epic fight over app store fees to the Supreme Court

Ars Technica News
apple epic-games app-store supreme-court antitrust legal fees

Summary

Apple has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal in the antitrust case with Epic Games over App Store commission rates, arguing against sharing confidential business data. The Court is expected to hear the case in its next term starting October 2026.

<p>Apple is hoping the Supreme Court will reverse a contempt finding that threatens to block the tech giant from charging high commission fees when developers divert iPhone users to non-Apple payment methods for app purchases.</p> <p>The contempt finding came in a case where Epic Games accused Apple of violating a judicial order requiring changes to its App Store, which charged a 30 percent commission for using Apple payment methods and did not allow developer links to alternative payment methods.</p> <p>That order required Apple to allow developers to include links to make payments outside the Apple ecosystem, but Apple did so only after requiring a 27 percent commission for allowing the link-outs. In December, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/epic-celebrates-the-end-of-the-apple-tax-after-appeals-court-win-in-ios-payments-case/">Apple lost an appeal</a> after defending its commission as reasonable. At that time, the 9th Circuit concluded that Apple violated the spirit of the order by charging fees so high that they “had a prohibitive effect” on developers who saw little benefit in updating apps to save only a small amount on fees.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/apple-takes-epic-fight-over-app-store-fees-to-the-supreme-court/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/apple-takes-epic-fight-over-app-store-fees-to-the-supreme-court/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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# Apple takes Epic fight over app store fees to the Supreme Court Source: [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/apple-takes-epic-fight-over-app-store-fees-to-the-supreme-court/](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/apple-takes-epic-fight-over-app-store-fees-to-the-supreme-court/) [According to Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-hear-apple-appeal-contempt-epic-games-lawsuit-2026-06-30/), the Supreme Court will likely hear the case during its next term, which begins this October\. ## Apple’s math will likely be challenged Apple’s filing said that Epic is hoping that the court fight will end with Apple charging a de minimis rate to developers who want to have more control over how transactions are completed in their apps\. In litigation that has been paused during the Supreme Court review, Epic expects to force Apple to show receipts explaining why commission rates are so high\. So far, Apple has claimed that commission fees “ensure that Apple can continue to receive compensation for use of its IP\-protected tools, technologies, and services—the very things that attract developers and enable app creation\.” For example, with Epic, Apple claims that purchases like even a single “skin” that*Fortnite*players buy to make their characters look unique require a fee\. Those commissions help Apple develop and update “the iPhone screen that displays it, the iPhone touch controls that direct the virtual character, the Apple silicon chip that processes all iOS software, the app development tools Epic used to build*Fortnite*for iOS, and the App Store platform that downloads, updates, and maintains the app,” their filing said\. If the Supreme Court sides with Apple and reverses the contempt finding, Apple is hoping to wriggle out of sharing “confidential business data regarding the company’s decision\-making concerning the App Store, its implementation of linked\-out purchases for developers, and its internal discussions regarding compliance with the injunction\.” Meanwhile, the UK is also hoping to analyze Apple’s actual costs\. The CMA has suggested that Apple “could still levy fees” for allowing link\-outs, “but that such charges would have to be applied fairly,” the Guardian reported\. Like Epic, the Coalition for App Fairness suggested that any app store developer “charges should be justified by ‘transparent data’ from Apple and Google explaining any underlying cost to the tech companies\.” Apple did not immediately respond to Ars’ request to comment\.

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