Apple doesn’t want to fight a two-front battle in the ongoing Epic Games case, which is why it has turned to the Supreme Court to stay the circuit court proceedings.
The Apple vs. Epic case could become one of the most complicated cases Apple has ever faced. The back and forth that has taken place since Epic first filed a complaint in 2020 will take you at least two hours to read.
In a new file consulted by AppleInsiderApple requested a stay of the mandate that would force it to reconvene with Epic in court and decide on a new commission on the App Store for external purchases. The Circuit Court previously granted a stay, but that stay was vacated after a complaint from Epic.
The filing makes clear that Apple hopes to pursue its case in the Supreme Court before dealing with anything that might happen in the circuit courts. The whole issue that is contested on both sides is Apple’s right to charge a commission on external purchases.
Extract from the deposit:
A stay is now necessary before Apple is forced to challenge its commission rate under a false and damaging contempt label – in a proceeding that could reshape the global app market – before this Court can consider whether to grant review.
The Circuit Court agreed that Apple deserved to charge something, but it disagreed with its initial implementation. When Apple was ordered to end its anti-management practices, the new rules put in place were considered a violation of the injunction.
As a result, Apple was punished by being forced to take no commission on all external purchases. Since this order was placed in April 2025, Apple has complied and not taken any money from purchases made through app links to external platforms.
This is where the Supreme Court comes in.
Apple’s fight before the Supreme Court
Apple is taking the case to the Supreme Court to challenge two specific aspects of the April 2025 ruling. One concerns the scope of the ruling, which requires Apple to change the commission for all developers, not just Epic.
The second contested aspect is the contempt itself. Apple believes its new external commission system followed the letter of the law, but was violated based on the spirit of the law.
If the Supreme Court takes up the case and agrees that Apple is right on both counts, it could mean the end of trading. Of course, Epic could always find another route to try to continue the procedure.
If only the issue of scope is resolved and the violation of the injunction remains, then Apple will have to return to the district courts. However, the discussion would focus on the rate to charge Epic Games, and not all developers in the United States.
Although Apple hasn’t shared any details about its plans, this could mean a return to the previous 27% commission that caused the injunction violation to be filed in the first place. Only time will tell where this will all end up.
Apple clearly wants to avoid unnecessary litigation in lower courts if the Supreme Court could make all of this moot. Epic Games, for its part, believes that Apple is where it wants it to be and that it will succeed in obtaining an advantageous price.
For now, developers in the United States continue to log in outside of Apple’s App Store without paying any money. This is not an ideal situation for Apple, especially since everyone agrees that we owe it something.