Apple executive emails revealed in the Epic Games vs. Apple lawsuit highlight how the company came to its conclusion to take a 30% cut on all App Store transactions in a way that ensured it wasn't "leaving money on the table."
One email thread from 2011, spotted by The Verge, features Apple services chief Eddy Cue discussing the commission that the company should charge providers for content subscriptions accessed via Apple TV (an App Store on the set-top box didn't exist at the time.) Apple execs considered charging a 40% one-time cut, a 30% one-time cut, a 30% ongoing fee, or individualized deals with different providers.
Apple's team eventually decided to require the same 30% fees as it does on the iTunes Store and the App Store. Another email also discusses how Apple should negotiate referrals, where Apple TV apps link out to a provider's website for customers to subscribe directly to the service.
One executive said they wanted to ensure they protected the 30% fee that had long been enshrined in the App Store, but stated they would remain open to other deal structures.
"I don't want to do any deals where we get less than 30%. That is what it is on the app store and we can't be making a different deal here. If that is not possible than I want a one-time bounty but we need to very careful here so this doesn't spillover to the app store," one exec wrote. (The emails are threaded such that it's hard to tell who is replying to whom.)
Overall, the email thread appears to suggest that discussions evolved extemporaneously amongst Apple executives when it came to provider fees during the early development of the Apple TV platform, with maximum profit the main concern.
Amid increasing scrutiny over its App Store practices, Apple in November announced the Small Business Program, which saw App Store fees slashed to just 15% for developers earning under one million dollars per calendar year. The App Store commission remains at 30% for developers making over one million dollars per year.
The program has since received praise from many developers, but some larger developers including Epic Games criticized the move, saying it undermines the App Store's rules. Epic Games is ineligible for the reduced commission since it exceeds the $1 million earnings threshold. Apple said the program will benefit the "vast majority" of App Store developers.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports.
iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs.
On his blog Daring Fireball,...
Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
There is uncertainty about Apple's head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, The Information reports. Some former Apple executives apparently hope that a new "dark-horse" candidate will emerge.
Ternus is considered to be the most likely candidate to succeed Cook as CEO. The report notes that he is more likely to become CEO than software head chief Craig Federighi, ...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent.
Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
You should see the markup on tangible products to wholesalers or wholesalers to retailers.
EDIT: For the sake of clarity, the average markup of a wholesaler or manufacturer to a retailer or wholesaler is 20-40%. Apple is charging 30% by acting as a middleman. If you reject Apple's 30%, I suggest you reject every retailer where you purchase any services or goods from.
Forget what the emails actually say. Look at how it's written! That's appalling! It's not properly capitalised! Noteworthy is that "the App Store" isn't even capitalised! And my Mac just automatically capitalised it for me as I wrote it here so there's no excuse for that. And there's even a word missing. "we need to very careful here". "be". Please write full sentences when you're an exec writing emails like this... And "than" is comparative. "Then" is the word you wanted there. God damn
So Apple leadership is figuring out how much to charge for something, and they go with their existing standard fee that’s also in line with the rest of the market. Is there supposed to be some sort of smoking gun here?
Who gets to decide that. Funiture and clothing have 300 and 400 percent markups. Jewelry too. Apple is successful because they generally require a 35% profit margin to release anything and to do a few things very well. They strayed from this while Jobs was in exile and nearly went out of business. Most of their competitors from that era no longer exist.
30 percent is actually much lower if you look at their costs. They manage the support, they eat the 3% credit card processing fees, they host the apps in cloud, they provide free marketing and drive the platform via ads and other methods, they maintain the platform, with constant and consistent updates to APIs and security. They protect companies from piracy that plagues other platforms, and keeps them from being run out of business.
