Apple's Supreme Court Appeal Over Epic Games App Store Fees

The U.S. Supreme Court announced on June 30, 2026 that it will hear Apple’s appeal of a civil‑contempt ruling stemming from its long‑running antitrust dispute with Epic Games. The contempt finding arose after a 2021 district‑court injunction required Apple to let iOS developers place links in apps that direct users to alternative payment methods. Apple complied by permitting the links but imposed a 12‑27 % commission on purchases made through those external links, which Epic argued violated the spirit of the injunction. In April 2025 a judge found Apple in contempt and ordered it to stop charging any fee on such links; the Ninth Circuit upheld that finding in December 2025 while vacating the total ban and sending the fee‑level question back to the district court.

The Supreme Court will review only the contempt question and will not reconsider whether the injunction applies universally to all developers or solely to Epic. Apple contends the order exceeds the original injunction and that applying it to all developers would conflict with recent Supreme Court precedent limiting nationwide injunctions. The case is watched worldwide because the outcome could reshape Apple’s App Store commission structure and influence regulatory actions in the EU, Brazil, India and elsewhere. The Court is slated to hear arguments in its October term, with a decision expected by mid‑2027.