Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney will appear next week at a conference in South Korea to discuss the fairness of mobile app platforms and ecosystems amid his company's ongoing tension with Apple, according to a press release.
Sweeney will be joined by other members and representatives of the "Coalition for App Fairness," a group of developers and companies lobbying against Apple's "anti-competitive" App Store rules. The conference, "Global Conference on Mobile App Ecosystem Fairness," kicks off on Monday, November 15, in Seoul, South Korea.
South Korea has been the scene of recent legislation that could change the App Store in fundamental ways. Earlier in August, South Korea passed a bill that prohibits Apple, and other owners of mobile app distribution platforms, from forcing developers to use their own payment method. For the App Store, that would result in Apple no longer requiring developers to use its in-app purchase system.
Apple has said the new change would put users at risk, decrease user trust in purchases made within apps, and make it harder for certain features, such as parental controls, to be implemented.
The Telecommunications Business Act will put users who purchase digital goods from other sources at risk of fraud, undermine their privacy protections, make it difficult to manage their purchases, and features like "Ask to Buy" and Parental Controls will become less effective. We believe user trust in App Store purchases will decrease as a result of this legislation — leading to fewer opportunities for the over 482,000 registered developers in Korea who have earned more than KRW8.55 trillion to date with Apple.
Following the passage of the bill, Epic Games had asked Apple to reinstate Fortnite onto the App Store in South Korea. Fortnite was removed from the App Store in August of 2020 after Epic implemented a direct-payment method for in-app purchases, a clear violation of Apple's App Store rules. The new law in South Korea is yet to go into effect, and even when it does, Apple had said that it has no obligation to reinstate Epic's developer account that was terminated prior to when it became law.
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of May 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X ...
Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:56 am PDT by Juli Clover
With the design overhaul that's coming this year, Apple plans to rename all of its operating systems, reports Bloomberg. Going forward, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS will be identified by year, rather than by version number. We're not going to be getting iOS 19, we're getting iOS 26.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
iOS 26 will be accompanied by...
Apple's iPhone 17 lineup will include four iPhones, and two of those are going to get all-new display sizes. There's the iPhone 17 Air, which we've heard about several times, but the standard iPhone 17 is also going to have a different display size.
We've heard a bit about the updated size before, but with most rumors focusing on the iPhone 17 Air, it's easy to forget. Display analyst Ross...
Sony today provided a closer look at the iPhone rigs used to shoot the upcoming post-apocalyptic British horror movie "28 Years Later" (via IGN).
With a budget of $75 million, Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later will become the first major blockbuster movie to be shot on iPhone. 28 Years Later is the sequel to "28 Days Later" (2002) and "28 Weeks Later" (2007), which depict the aftermath of a...
The next major version of macOS, now dubbed "macOS 26," is rumored to drop support for several older Intel-based Mac models currently compatible with macOS Sequoia.
According to individuals familiar with the matter cited by AppleInsider, the following Macs will not be supported by the next version of macOS:
MacBook Pro (2018)
iMac (2019)
iMac Pro (2017)
Mac mini (2018)
MacB...
With the next-generation version of iOS and other 2025 software updates, Apple is planning to change its numbering scheme. Rather than iOS 19, which would logically follow iOS 18, Apple is instead going to call the update iOS 26. Apple plans to use 26 across all of its platforms (the number representing the upcoming year), which will presumably be less confusing than having iOS 19, macOS 16,...
Apple is reportedly preparing to implement significant iPhone hardware redesigns each year for the next three generations.
According leaks from the Chinese supply chain disclosed by Weibo user "Digital Chat Station," Apple plans to carry out a series of phased industrial design changes affecting different parts of the iPhone across three consecutive years: 2025, 2026, and 2027. The changes...
No matter how I feel about the particulars in this case, Sweeney is the worst possible ambassador for his goals and ideas because he’s always been such a flaming ?hole. Someone should really tell him.
Right on. People like this "supporting my best interests" I really don't want nor need.
Anyone who thinks any massive, multinational corporation is their buddy or has their best interests at heart is a fool.
I will never understand the blind adoration and unshakable loyalty some people have for their favorite brands, because I assure you all those warm fuzzies only ever run in one direction.
