Epic Games wants the U.S. Supreme Court to leave two lower-court rulings alone — rulings Apple has been fighting to overturn for years.
Apple petitioned the Supreme Court to review two rulings from its long-running antitrust fight with Epic over off-App-Store purchases. Epic responded by asking the court to deny that petition, arguing the lower courts got it right and there is nothing left to fix. The case began in 2020 when Epic deliberately bypassed Apple's payment system in Fortnite, triggering a ban from the App Store and the lawsuit that followed. Two courts have since found that Apple must allow developers to direct users to payment options outside Apple's own system.
If the Supreme Court declines the petition — which it does with the vast majority of cases it receives — those rulings take effect and Apple's grip on in-app payment processing loosens. The win is limited: the rulings do not force Apple to allow competing app stores on iOS, only external payment links. Still, it threatens the commission structure Apple has defended as the reasonable price of access to its platform.
Apple has spent six years arguing that its App Store terms are lawful — at some point, it runs out of courts to appeal to.