Apple has filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court, seeking a stay of App Store while it waits to hear whether the Supreme Court will consider the latest developments in its legal battle with Epic Games.
See also: Epic Games: Forces App Store policy to change
Apple argues that without a stay, it would suffer irreparable harm. The company says it would have to negotiate the fundamentals of its business model with the “extremely damaging insult of being (wrongly) found to have acted in contempt of the court’s original order” with the public watching, while the case would require it to disclose confidential business information, which cannot be undone.
Regulators around the world are watching this case to determine what commission rate Apple can charge for purchases in major markets outside the United States. No proceeding to determine the commission rate Apple can charge – an endeavor that is fraught with challenges and raises the prospect of courts engaging in improper rate-setting – should be allowed to proceed on the false and damaging allegation that Apple acted in contempt by charging a commission based on an order that did not even mention commissions.
The Supreme Court's decision could also affect the scope of the case, as one of Apple's arguments is that the injunction should only apply to Epic Games, not all developers who distribute apps in the United States.
To recall, in 2021, the Northern District Court of California ordered Apple to relax its anti-referral rules as part of the ruling in Epic Games v. Apple. Apple was ordered to allow developers to link to alternative payment options in apps. Apple complied, but continued to charge high fees (three percent less than its regular fees), leading the court to find Apple in contempt of court for willful violation of the order.
See also: Apple App Store: The long antitrust war continues
In April 2025, Apple was banned from collecting any commissions on links to apps in the U.S. App Store, a change Apple implemented that same month. Apple appealed, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Apple violated the injunction, but said the company should be able to receive compensation for its technology. The appeals court then ordered the district court to calculate a reasonable commission, and that’s what Apple wants to block.
Apple plans to challenge the district court's contempt ruling and the scope of the order, and it doesn't want to go to court for commission calculations when there's a chance the Supreme Court could overturn the ruling entirely.
All Apple is asking for here is a stay of the injunction so the Court can consider Apple's application before it is subjected to a remand process that could reshape the global app market based on the false premise that Apple acted in political contempt.
Apple asked the appeals court to suspend the commission calculation phase until it hears from the Supreme Court. The appeals court initially agreed, but then reversed course after Epic Games challenged it. Apple is now asking the Supreme Court for the same stay that the appeals court denied.
Apple wants to maintain its current zero-fee structure for links while it appeals to the Supreme Court, meaning developers in the US will continue to not pay fees for purchases made using third-party payment options in their apps while the case progresses.
See also: Epic Games lays off over 1,000 employees
If the Supreme Court grants Apple’s request for a stay, the zero-commission structure will remain in place while Apple awaits a decision from the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court does not grant the stay or declines to hear the case, Apple and Epic Games will return to the district court to determine the reasonable commission Apple can collect.
