Apple has yet to secure a stay on fee calculations in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games. Apple’s case will be heard by the Supreme Court during the term that begins in October, and Apple asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to stay the proceedings until then, but the court said no.
Apple now has 24 hours to give the court an overview of the fees it wants to charge developers for using alternative payment options and for linking to purchasing options on the web. Epic Games will then be able to give a legal analysis of Apple’s proposed fee, and the court will decide what is reasonable.
Apple’s stay has been refused! They now have 24 hours to file their unwanted fee menu proposal with the Court, and Epic will have 60 days to file our legal analysis before a court hearing on the matter. — Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 11, 2026
The fee calculation is the result of a long, drawn-out dispute between Epic Games and Apple, which began when Epic sued Apple in 2020. Apple largely won the initial legal fight, but was ordered to change its anti-steering rules to allow developers to connect to non-App Store purchasing options. Apple complied, but charged a fee of 12-27%, leading to few developers choosing to use this option.
Epic Games accused Apple of violating the court order, and U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed. In April 2025, she found Apple in contempt of court for willfully violating her ruling and blocked Apple from charging fees on US App Store links.
Apple appealed, and the appeals court upheld the contempt ruling, but said Apple was entitled to reasonable fees for its intellectual property. The appeals court sent the case back to the district court to determine what reasonable fees could be. Apple has not been able to collect payment for links since April 2025, and at this time there are no fees.
The appeals court ruling that continued to hold Apple in contempt led Apple to appeal to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Apple requested a pause in the fee calculation because the higher court’s decision could overturn the contempt ruling, but the appeals court, the Supreme Court and now the district court have rejected Apple’s requests for a pause.
The court will now determine the fees and Apple will have to change its App Store rules to comply. The fees set in this legal battle could have implications far beyond the United States, as Apple told the Supreme Court that regulators around the world are monitoring the outcome.
