After Epic successfully argued that App Store fees for external payments should be decided now, Apple must face the Circuit Court and the Supreme Court at the same time.
The Apple vs. Epic saga has been years in the making and could easily fill a book at this point, but it’s not over yet. The latest update comes after Apple was granted a stay of its return to the Circuit Court while it appeals to the Supreme Court.
This stay was short-lived, as Epic immediately appealed the stay and 9to5Mac shared that he won. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court overturned a stay it placed on enforcement of a mandate that would require Apple to return to court and work with Epic to decide what commission would be fair.
Basically, Apple won on every point of the Epic lawsuit except one. It was ordered to end its anti-steering rules and allow external purchases.
Apple complied, but its new setup for external commissions was designed in a way that wasn’t worth developers adopting. Apple was found in contempt of the order and an injunction was filed to force Apple to allow commission-free external purchases.
The injunction was repeatedly appealed, and ultimately an agreement was reached that Apple should be allowed to charge a commission, but not 27%. A later ruling said Apple and Epic needed to decide what would be acceptable, but that has yet to be done.
Since the injunction, Apple continues to charge no commission on external purchases as this case makes its way through the courts.
Apple took the case to the Supreme Court again and requested that negotiations on new fees and other changes to the App Store be suspended. He argued that there would be no need to involve a lower court until the Supreme Court appeal is heard and the stay is granted.
Epic appealed this suspension order, and that’s where we are today. Even if Apple appeals to the Supreme Court, it will have to go back to the lower courts and work out the new commission structure.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney took to social media to celebrate.
Apple’s delaying tactics have ended! Now, Epic v. Apple returns to Judge Gonzales Rogers for hearings on exactly what fees Apple can charge to recoup the costs of reviewing apps using competing payment methods. https://t.co/eukYzpu0dY
– Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 29, 2026
It’s quite a problem to want free and open access to the App Store user base. Even if Epic “wins,” Apple still manages to collect its dues.
Apple has the power to put an end to it
Given that the case has already been thrown out by the Supreme Court, it doesn’t look like things will go Apple’s way. The company may not be able to charge as much as it wants, but at least the courts have agreed that it owes it something.
All these regulatory affairs in the world cannot be avoided when you are as big as Apple. However, I fully believe that Apple could reduce the pain if it wanted to.
It is well within Apple’s power and resources to propose a new commission system on the App Store that would still make it a lot of money, that governments would approve of, and that only a few developers could laugh at. Epic will never just run the Apple App Store itself for all the profits, but others would settle for more revenue.
This ongoing saga began in 2020 with Epic deliberately violating App Store policy so it could get Apple to take legal action. The entire campaign was presented as Epic taking on the big bad Apple and was even accompanied by a 1984-style announcement.
As with Spotify and other giants going after Apple, it’s about maximizing their bottom line while distancing themselves from Apple’s user base. Users might benefit in the long run, but Epic paid over $1 billion for what could be considered rather modest wins.
Updated at 12:30 p.m.: Changes made to reflect exactly what the stay applies to and how it affects Apple.