Apple to file Supreme Court appeal in Epic Games App Store battle – again

Apple plans to take its App Store battle with Epic Games back to the Supreme Court. In new file, The iPhone maker said it plans to ask the US Supreme Court to review part of the long-running case over App Store fees.

Meanwhile, Apple wants to stay the appeals court’s decision to limit its foreign currency payments.

As a refresher, Apple has been arguing for years against Fortnite maker Epic Games after the game developer added external payments to its app to bypass the Apple App Store fees in 2020. Apple won the case in 2021 when the court ruled that Apple. he was not the sole ruler. However, the judge also said that Apple should allow developers to connect to external payment methods.

A technology giant he appealed that decision until Supreme Courtwho he refused to hear the case, so that the original decision of the Ninth Circuit Court stands. As a result, Apple began allowing third-party payments, but charged manufacturers who used their payment methods a 27% commission on those purchases — a small discount on Apple’s 30% fee. (Meanwhile, Google is facing the same problem, it settled with Epic Games last monthand dropping its Play Store commissions to 20%.)

Epic Games argued that such fines were inconsistent with the court order; they and other developers were also not saving money, because payment has its own fees.

The US District Court for the Northern District of California sided with Epic, finding Apple inside mocking. The decision was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals in December 2025. he said that Apple’s 27% payment on foreign payments defeated the purpose of allowing them, but it did not say that the new price. The decision goes back to the lower court for a decision. (Apple asked to renegotiate this decision, but its request was rejected in March 2026.)

Since Apple is now out of options in the Ninth Circuit, it plans to take its case to the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, Apple will have to challenge the laws that were used to defame it, and will try to convince the judges that the courts should not be allowed to reduce the amount they can pay for their services. The company has been saying that the 27% fee is not to help pay, but for other services, such as hosting, access, and its software and tools. Basically, it’s a fee that Apple believes reflects the importance of its App Store ecosystem.

However, since the Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s appeal, which focused on another aspect of the case, it may reject this one as well. The case will now go back to a lower court to decide what, if any, Apple can charge for purchases made outside of the App Store.

Once the battle is over, the court’s ruling could affect how much revenue Apple makes from its App Store, as consumers turn to AI chatbots and assistants to get things done.

Asked for clarification, Epic Games spokeswoman Natalie Munoz said Apple’s request for a stay was “another delay in the court’s ability to limit Apple’s ability to impose fines on third-party payments.”

“Courts time and time again find that this is illegal,” he added. “Epic heard this directly from many developers when trying to provide Web Stores and similar products in competition with Apple.” Because of Apple’s methods, only a few brave developers including Spotify, Kindle, and Patreon, are ready to take this opportunity and bring benefits to consumers.

Updated after publication by Epic review.