Apple filed an attraction after being present in contempt of an order associated to App Retailer charges.
The antitrust case between Apple and Epic Video games is heading to the best courtroom within the US. The Supreme Court docket will hear an attraction from Apple over a contempt ruling in a authorized battle that is been chugging alongside for nearly seven years. Based on Reuters, the justices are anticipated to think about the attraction within the courtroom’s subsequent time period, which commences in October. A ruling is expected by June subsequent 12 months.
In April 2025, District Decide Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found Apple in contempt of a 2021 ruling that required the corporate to let builders direct customers to third-party cost choices for in-app funds. This could have allow them to bypass the fee Apple usually takes. Epic had accused Apple of “malicious compliance” by as a substitute charging builders as much as 27 p.c on gross sales made through hyperlinks to third-party cost methods. (Apple had lengthy taken a 30 p.c lower of App Retailer funds earlier than halving that for a lot of builders in 2020.)
An appeals courtroom largely upheld the contempt ruling in December, although it struck down an order that prevented the corporate from charging commissions on exterior funds in any respect. As such, Apple will be capable of current new arguments to Rogers about what it might cost for such funds.
In 2024, the Supreme Court docket declined to hear appeals from each Apple and Epic within the long-running case. Final month, Justice Elena Kagan declined a motion to stay the contempt ruling. Apple additionally argued the injunction requiring it to permit third-party cost choices shouldn’t apply to builders apart from Epic. Nonetheless, the justices won’t contemplate that time.
“We’re heading to the Supreme Court docket the place we’ll proceed to combat towards junk charges Apple fees on third-party funds,” Epic wrote in a statement on X. “Decrease courts have rightly discovered Apple’s charges to be unlawful and anticompetitive and we’ll proceed to defend free markets.”
“This is a vital query of regulation and we’re happy the Supreme Court docket will hear our case,” an Apple spokesperson instructed Engadget in an announcement.
Replace, June 30, 2026, 4:57PM ET: Added Epic’s assertion.
Replace, June 30, 2026, 5:14PM ET: Added Apple’s assertion.
