In a nutshell: The long-running Epic versus Apple fight is heading back to the US Supreme Court. It seems that five years, several appeals, a Fortnite exile, a 27% workaround fee, and a contempt finding were not enough drama for one App Store dispute.
The justices have agreed to hear Apple's appeal against a lower-court ruling that found the company in contempt of a 2021 injunction from US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
That order required Apple to let developers point users to payment options outside the App Store, allowing them to avoid the iPhone maker's usual 15% to 30% commission.
The company did allow developers to include external payment links, but added new restrictions and demanded a 27% commission on purchases made through those links within seven days.
Epic argued that this was not compliance. Rogers agreed, finding in April 2025 that Apple had willfully violated her order and telling the company to stop charging fees on outside purchases.
The Ninth Circuit upheld the contempt finding in December. It also said that Apple could return to the district court and argue what, if anything, it should be allowed to charge for purchases of digital goods made outside its payment system.
Apple says the contempt ruling goes too far because a company cannot be punished for violating the "spirit" of an injunction rather than an express command.
"This is an important question of law, and we are pleased the Supreme Court will hear our case," Apple said.
Epic, unsurprisingly, framed the case rather differently.
"We're heading to the Supreme Court where we'll continue to fight against junk fees Apple charges on third-party payments," the company wrote on X.
– Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) June 30, 2026
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in its next term, which begins in October. Importantly, the justices appear to have rejected Apple's request to review whether the injunction should apply only to Epic, rather than to millions of other developers. That means the case is narrower than Apple wanted, but still important for anyone who makes money through iOS apps.
The legal battle has been dragging on since 2020, when Epic slipped its own payment option into Fortnite, Apple kicked the game from the App Store, and Epic immediately sued.
The 2021 ruling mostly went Apple's way, rejecting Epic's broader monopoly claims, but it still forced the company to loosen its anti-steering rules and let developers point users to outside payment options.
Apple later tried to preserve most of its commission through a 27% fee on external purchases, leading to the 2025 contempt order accusing it of defying the court. Fortnite eventually returned to the US iOS App Store after nearly five years away.
The Supreme Court will not decide whether Apple runs an illegal monopoly. It will decide whether the company's response to the court order was allowed or amounted to contempt. The answer could have major consequences for App Store fees.