Apple's Phil Schiller Takes the Stand in Epic Games v. Apple Trial

Today marked the kickoff of the third week of the Epic Games v. Apple trial, and this week is notable because Epic has finished with its witnesses and we're now transitioning to Apple witnesses, including notable Apple executives.

fortnite apple featured
Apple Fellow and former marketing chief Phil Schiller, who is in charge of the App Store, took the stand today. Schiller will testify for up to nine hours, and will see the most questioning out of all of Apple's witnesses.

Schiller's hours of commentary will see him explaining just how the ‌App Store‌ works, the value of the ‌App Store‌ and Apple's SDKs, and why it's important that the judge side with Apple to maintain security and privacy for customers.

Questioning today started with the history of the iPhone, where Schiller made sure to say that security and privacy were the "most important" considerations when developing the ‌iPhone‌. "This new computing device in your pocket means it's capable of new things," he said. "It's going to store information around our lives that we aren't used to having in our pocket."

Schiller covered how the ‌App Store‌ was set up from the beginning. The ‌iPhone‌'s software is "part of the product" that Apple creates, which is very different from Android, which is licensed to device makers. This licensing model "reduces quality" and the "speed of innovation," Schiller said in defense of Apple's setup.

Early questioning covered the transition from Apple-only apps on ‌iPhone‌ to third-party app support, and the security and privacy risks that Apple had to contend with. After the launch of the ‌iPhone‌, Apple heard from developers that they wanted to create native apps, which Apple viewed as the first "demand for quality and security" on ‌iPhone‌.

Apple has always been concerned about jailbroken apps and rogue app developers creating content without documented APIs, which could lead to "unreliable, unstable devices." He pointed out the importance of protecting users from malware to keep devices functioning. "This is your phone in your pocket that needs to work reliably," he said.

Schiller has also been speaking about Apple's ‌App Store‌ policy to treat developers large and small the same, and his testimony has included some interesting little tidbits. Apple wanted to charge $99 for the ‌App Store‌ developer program to prove that an app that's being worked on is "important" and that developers are "serious about making a quality app."

Notably, Schiller said that it costs Apple $50 million for every Worldwide Developers Conference event that it puts on annually, which was used as evidence that Apple's ‌App Store‌ profit margins are not as high as ‌Epic Games‌ has implied.

Schiller also said that 17 percent of the hundreds of thousands of games on the ‌App Store‌ use the freemium model, which was another interesting tidibt that was shared. 75 percent of games are free to download, and six percent require a payment.

On the topic of physical goods, Schiller said that in 2019, the ‌App Store‌ drove $400 billion+ in transactions like food delivery, Amazon purchases, Uber, and more, which are not subject to a 30 percent cut. According to Schiller, Apple does not take a cut of physical purchases because Apple can't guarantee they will actually arrive.

We'll undoubtedly hear additional interesting details from Schiller as his testimony continues, and later this week or early next week Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to take the stand.

Popular Stories

Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple's iPhone Driver's License Feature Now Available in 11 U.S. States

Tuesday September 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Apple recently revealed that the feature would soon be available in North Dakota, and starting today, the feature has officially gone...
maxresdefault

New iPad Pro With M5 Chip Leaked in Unboxing Video

Tuesday September 30, 2025 8:39 am PDT by
An apparent unboxing video for an unannounced iPad Pro with the M5 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom. The same YouTube account leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip before it was announced by Apple last year, so this is likely a legitimate leak. Based on the box shown in the video, this appears to be a 13-inch iPad Pro with an M5 chip, 256GB of...
fcc vision pro leak

FCC Accidentally Leaks Apple's Next Vision Pro

Tuesday September 30, 2025 3:48 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has seemingly confirmed Apple's work on an updated version of the Vision Pro headset. One of several documents the FCC shared today references an Apple-designed "Head Mounted Device" with a model number of A3416. An included image confirms the device is a Vision Pro. The FCC's uploads are transmission tests, SAR test reports, and...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.0.1 With Fixes for Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Camera Issues on iPhone 17 Models

Monday September 29, 2025 10:12 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 26.0.1 and iPadOS 26.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out earlier this week. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes for the update, iOS 26.0.1 addresses a bug that could cause aberrations in...
macbook pro prime day 2025

FCC Leaks Upcoming MacBook Pro and More

Tuesday September 30, 2025 1:58 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission has confirmed Apple's work on a new version of the MacBook Pro and several other products, leaking details on the devices ahead of launch. The FCC published documents that reference model numbers that do not correspond with existing devices. A3434, for example, references an unreleased MacBook Pro, while other numbers are likely for...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pro Nears Mass Production, But Four Bigger Upgrades Expected Next Year

Sunday September 28, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next MacBook Pro models will enter mass production soon, according to the latest information shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said he continues to believe the new MacBook Pro models will be released at some point between late 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, meaning they should be available to order by March at the latest. Apple often...
space black mbp

Here's Every New Apple Product That Leaked Yesterday

Wednesday October 1, 2025 8:27 am PDT by
A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests. The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...
iOS 26

Apple Continues to Prepare iOS 26.0.1 With Multiple Bug Fixes Expected

Sunday September 28, 2025 1:30 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The account initially said iOS 26.0.1 would have a build number of 23A350, but they now expect the update to have a build number of 23A355. This suggests that the software update will include more bug fixes or changes than initially...
Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Thursday September 25, 2025 1:11 pm PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system codenamed "Charismatic," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple smart home hub concept based on rumors This is likely Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system. In a report last month, Gurman said both Apple's rumored smart home hub in 2026 and tabletop robot in 2027 will run the new operating system. He said the software platform ...

Top Rated Comments

jom3500 Avatar
57 months ago

How does it cost $50m to run WWDC. Some creative accounting going on there.
I was one of many people responsible for organizing the annual general meeting for Siemens in Germany which lasts around 5-8h (1d). We spent over 4 Mio. € every year for this small event. You have no idea what things you have to plan and take into consideration. It‘s really not that easy
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NMBob Avatar
57 months ago

Given the interest in this case they could at least provide a better sound quality feed.
The court doesn't support lossless audio, either.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haydn! Avatar
57 months ago
Everyone trying to figure out where that $50m is going, and only focusing on Apple people costs? You're all missing some pretty hefty lines off that invoice!


* Entire venue hire (probably best part of 2-3 weeks solid for setup, event, tear down)
* AV set-up and crew, not just for the main keynote, but all those breakout sessions too. Most large venues come as an empty shell. You have to hire everything from carpets to cabling, as well as your lighting, staging and screens...
* Physical environment - Apple brand the sh*t out of that venue. Those full glass building wraps they've done won't come cheap.
* Keynote production - intro videos, product videos, etc, etc
* Keynote streaming/broadcasting - Apple will be having to hire and dedicate some pretty big resources to simultaneously broadcast WWDC live around the world. Quite possibly involving hiring saterlite or two.
* Breakout session recording and editing - over 100 seperate seminars filmed, edited, etc
* Catering for several thousand people for 5 event days and multiple set-up/tear down days.
* All the merch and promo callateral they'll be handing out.
* And so much more!

An event of this scale, I can see it totalling up pretty big in the end. But just because it 'costs' $50million, doesn't mean that's the bottom line as Apple will be covering some of that with the ticket sales.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twintin Avatar
57 months ago

$50mil for a week event?
It's probably not just the week event, but also lot of preparation prior that event.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GSWForever8 Avatar
57 months ago
Wow. These developers are so greedy. After all, they need money to improve Xcode and other things like that, as well as maintaining the App Store. 30% is nothing compared to traditional stores. Dang, Epic and other companies just want money, that's all.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArPe Avatar
57 months ago

There’s no way it costs $50 MILLION to put on a developers conference. Apple could rent out the whole convention center for a month for that much $$$. It’s also driving distance from Apple campus so it’s not like they’re flying their engineers in from halfway across the world.
$50 million includes the cost of preparing for ONE YEAR. Prepping, redecorating, presentations, employees, media production, event space, travel plans for guests, etc etc etc etc
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)