Apple Epic Supreme Court appeal reopens App Store fee fight

Apple will get another Supreme Court hearing over the App Store after the US Supreme Court agreed to hear its appeal in the Epic Games contempt case. The grant reopens a fight over outside-payment links and fees, with consequences for developers who sell subscriptions and digital goods through iPhone apps.

The dispute traces back to a 2021 injunction described by Reuters that required Apple to let developers point users to payment options outside its own system. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found in 2025 that Apple had not complied after adding new conditions. One of them was a 27 per cent commission on purchases made through outside payment systems within seven days of a user clicking a link. Apple has typically charged 15 per cent to 30 per cent on in-app purchases through the App Store, so the contempt order cuts into one of the company’s central revenue defences.

Apple’s petition to the Supreme Court framed the case as a contempt-law question. The company said civil contempt should not apply because it had not violated an express term of the injunction, and argued that lower courts punished it for breaching the spirit of the order rather than clear language. The justices have agreed to examine that narrower point, not the full antitrust fight between Apple and Epic.

So far, the lower courts have rejected Apple’s position. In the Ninth Circuit order Apple is challenging, the appeals court declined to pause the contempt ruling, leaving in place a finding that Apple had wilfully failed to comply while the case continued. The practical issue for developers is plain enough: if Apple must allow links to outside payments, can it still charge a fee and set conditions after a transaction leaves its checkout flow?

Apple welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to take the case.

“This is an important question of law, and we are pleased the Supreme Court will hear our case.”
Apple, in a statement reported by Reuters

Epic has argued that Apple’s response to the injunction kept the economics of the App Store largely intact even after developers were allowed to send users elsewhere. Reuters reported that Epic has called the charges “junk fees Apple charges on third-party payments”. Smaller studios, subscription apps and software developers are left asking whether an off-platform link creates a real alternative or just another route to much the same commission bill.

Apple had asked the Supreme Court in May to review the contempt order after lower-court setbacks left it with few ways to challenge the ruling. Monday’s grant means the review will go ahead. It is not a final win for either side, and the court has not decided whether Rogers or the Ninth Circuit applied the law correctly.

Australian app makers are watching the same platform rules, even if the case is being fought in US courts. Many local developers sell subscriptions, services or game items through Apple’s ecosystem. The question at the centre of the appeal is direct: when a customer pays outside the App Store, how much of that transaction can Apple still reach?