Maya Robertson
Apple has failed to secure another pause in its long-running legal battle with Epic Games, clearing the way for a U.S. district court to continue proceedings over what commission, if any, Apple can charge developers when users make purchases through external links.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Apple’s request to put the lower-court proceedings on hold while the Supreme Court considers a separate part of the dispute. Apple had argued that the case should be paused until the justices decide whether the company was properly held in civil contempt for its implementation of a 2021 injunction governing App Store payment rules.
Apple's stay was denied! Now they have 24 hours to file their proposed menu of junk fees with The Court, and Epic will have 60 days to file our legal analysis in advance of a court hearing on the topic.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 11, 2026
The latest development means Apple must proceed with the district court process concerning commissions on purchases made outside the App Store. The question stems from the injunction Rogers issued in 2021, which required Apple to allow developers to direct users toward alternative purchasing mechanisms rather than limiting them exclusively to Apple’s in-app purchase system.
Apple subsequently implemented external purchase links but imposed commissions ranging from 12% to 27% on transactions resulting from those links, compared with its standard App Store commissions of 15% to 30%. It also placed restrictions on how developers could present external purchasing options. Epic challenged Apple’s implementation, arguing that the rules undermined the purpose of the injunction.
In 2025, Rogers found Apple in civil contempt, concluding that the company had violated the injunction. The ruling led Apple to eliminate commissions on purchases made through external links in U.S. apps and remove several restrictions governing how developers can communicate those purchasing options to users. Apple appealed the contempt finding.
The Ninth Circuit subsequently upheld the contempt finding but determined that the district court’s prohibition on any commission was too broad, leaving Rogers to determine what fee Apple may legally charge for transactions generated through external links. That issue is now at the center of the proceedings Apple sought to postpone.
The Supreme Court agreed in June to hear Apple’s appeal concerning the civil contempt ruling. However, it declined to review Apple’s separate challenge to the nationwide scope of the injunction. The Supreme Court case therefore centers on whether Apple could properly be held in contempt for imposing commissions when the original 2021 injunction did not explicitly prohibit such fees.
Apple argued that allowing the commission proceedings to continue before the Supreme Court rules could unfairly affect the process because the company would be negotiating a potential fee while carrying what it considers an improper contempt finding. Epic opposed the delay, arguing that another stay would postpone the establishment of permanent limits on the fees Apple can impose on third-party payments.
Following the court’s latest decision, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said the proceedings will now move forward to determine what fees Apple may charge developers for transactions completed outside the App Store.
The dispute has broader implications for Apple’s U.S. App Store business model. Apple currently cannot collect a commission on purchases made through external links under the existing court order, but the upcoming proceedings could establish a permissible fee structure for those transactions. The outcome of Apple’s Supreme Court appeal could separately affect the legal foundation underlying the contempt ruling.
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