Apple is moving to take its App Store lawsuit to the Supreme Court

Apple is preparing to take its App Store battle with Epic Games back to the Supreme Court. In a new filing, the iPhone maker said it plans to ask the US Supreme Court to review another aspect of this long-running case over App Store fees.

Meanwhile, Apple sought to halt an appeals court ruling limiting how it charges fees for foreign payments. On Monday, April 6, the court granted Apple’s request, and Epic Games immediately appealed it.

As a refresher, Apple fought a multi-year legal battle against Fortnite maker Epic Games after the game maker added third-party payments into its app to bypass Apple’s App Store fees in 2020. Apple largely won the case in 2021 as the court ruled that Apple was not a monopoly. However, the judge specified that Apple must allow developers to link to third-party payment options.

The tech giant appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case, allowing the 9th Circuit Court’s original ruling to stand. As a result, Apple began allowing third-party payments, but charged developers who use its payment systems a 27% commission on those purchases — only a slight discount from Apple’s usual 30% fee. (Meanwhile, Google, facing a similar case, settled with Epic Games last month, cutting Play Store commissions to 20%).

Epic Games argued that these fees were not consistent with the court order; They and other developers also didn’t save any money, since payment processing has its own fees.

The US District Court for the Northern District of California agreed with Epic, holding Apple in contempt. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that decision in December 2025. The appeals court said Apple’s 27% fee on foreign payments effectively defeats the purpose of allowing it, but did not propose a new rate. This decision is up to a lower court to decide. (Apple requested a rehearing of this decision, but was denied in March 2026.)

Since Apple now has no more options within the Ninth Circuit, it plans to take its case to the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, Apple is expected to challenge the legal standards used to hold it in contempt of court, and will try to convince the justices that courts should not be allowed to determine the fees they can charge for its services. The company has long argued that the 27% fee is not for payment processing, but rather for other services, such as hosting, discovery, and software and developer tools. Essentially, it’s a fee that Apple believes reflects the value of its App Store ecosystem.

However, since the Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s previous appeal, which focused on a different aspect of the case, it is possible that it may reject this appeal as well.

When that fight finally ends, the court’s decision could impact how much money Apple makes from its App Store, as consumers increasingly turn to chatbots and AI-powered agents to get things done.

Reached for comment, Epic Games spokesperson Natalie Munoz called Apple’s motion to stay “another delaying tactic to prevent the court from placing significant and permanent limits on Apple’s ability to impose unwanted fees on third-party payments.”

“The courts have repeatedly found this to be illegal,” she added. “Epic has heard this directly from many developers in our efforts to bring Web Stores and similar features into competition with Apple. As a result of Apple’s tactics, only a few brave developers, including Spotify, Kindle, and Patreon, have been willing to leverage this right and bring benefits to consumers. We will continue to stand up to Apple’s attempts to undermine the competition.”

Updated after publication with Epic’s comment, and to note when the proposal was accepted.