Apple Appeals Epic Games Ruling Over 'Anti-Steering' Provisions to U.S. Supreme Court

Just a day after Epic Games appealed one portion of its legal dispute with Apple to the U.S. Supreme Court, Apple has now done the same for the portion that was ruled in Epic's favor, reports Bloomberg.

app store blue banner epic 1
The dispute between Apple and Epic dates back to 2020 with Epic seeking to overturn Apple's App Store rules requiring content purchases within iOS apps to go through Apple, which takes a 15% to 30% cut of the revenue.

In multiple rounds of the dispute, Apple has won on every count with the exception of one regarding Apple's "anti-steering" rule that bars developers of many iOS apps from directing users to methods of purchase available outside of the ‌App Store‌, circumventing Apple's revenue cut.

Apple had said it was considering appealing the ruling over its anti-steering provision to the Supreme Court, and back in July a judge ruled that Apple did not have to make changes to its policies pending the potential appeal, which has now been filed.

The Supreme Court will decide in the coming months whether it will hear either or both of Epic's and Apple's appeals, but if it does not take up either petition, the previous rulings will stand. Apple would be able to continue to disallow third-party payment processing within apps but would have to allow developers to inform users about other purchasing options outside of the ‌App Store‌.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

iOS 18 Available Tomorrow With These 8 New Features For Your iPhone

Sunday September 15, 2024 10:09 am PDT by
Following over three months of beta testing, iOS 18 will finally be widely released to the public this Monday, September 16. The update should be available to install tomorrow starting at around 10 a.m. Pacific Time (1 p.m. Eastern Time) in the Settings app under General → Software Update on the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have highlighted eight key new features included in iOS 18, and...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Friday September 13, 2024 2:40 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

Apple Shares Full List of Over 250 New Features and Changes Coming With iOS 18

Wednesday September 11, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Following its iPhone 16 event on Monday, Apple shared a PDF on its website with a list of all new features and changes coming with iOS 18. The list includes many features that were already announced, including Apple Intelligence, new customization options for the Home Screen and Control Center, a redesigned Photos app, several enhancements to the Messages app, a Passwords app, and more....
apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature purple

M4 Macs, New iPad Mini, and iPad 11 Expected at Upcoming Apple Event

Sunday September 15, 2024 5:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely hold another event in October this year to announce new Macs and iPads. If so, it would be the fourth time in the last five years that Apple has held an event in October. Last year, Apple held a virtual event on Monday, October 30 to announce new MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated...
iphone 16 pro apple intelligence

iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max Shipping Estimates Extending Into October

Friday September 13, 2024 5:48 am PDT by
Apple began accepting pre-orders for all four new iPhone 16 models today, and shipping estimates for the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max on Apple's online store in the U.S. are already beginning to slip into October for many configurations. As of 6:45 a.m. Pacific Time, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max were facing a 2-4 week shipping delay for some configurations on Apple's online store, with...
iphone 16 pro apple intelligence

Apple Intelligence Features Expected to Roll Out in This Order Between iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.4

Friday September 13, 2024 1:01 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will be released to the public on Monday, but the first Apple Intelligence features will not be available until iOS 18.1 is released in October. Apple Intelligence features will continue to roll out in iOS 18.2 and beyond, with the expected roadmap outlined below per Apple's website and rumors. Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro model or any iPhone 16 model, and it will...
16 pro

iPhone 16 Pro Demand Has Been Lower Than Expected, Analyst Says

Sunday September 15, 2024 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said demand for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max has been "lower than expected" since the devices became available to pre-order in the U.S. and dozens of other countries on Friday. Kuo said his data is based on a "supply chain survey" and shipping estimates listed on Apple's online store. Kuo estimated that sales of all four iPhone 16 models reached...

Top Rated Comments

erikkfi Avatar
13 months ago
I hope my preferred, soulless giant corporation prevails in this fight over the other side's preferred, soulless giant corporation.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JimmyHook Avatar
13 months ago

I hope Epic wins this in the end. I'm not an Epic fan at all, but Apple is way too big to behave they way it behaves and is definitely stifling competition and innovation at this point.

Taking a 30% cut of every mobile platform transaction when you're one out of two mobile platforms, the other of which is doing the exact same thing, is outrageous.

Google and Apple are enjoying a pseudo-competitive situation, in reality there's no competition and it's an implicit cartel. A duopoly is not a competitive situation, there is absolutely zero pricing pressure on either company because they both know they are the only two platforms available and too big and established for anybody else to have a chance to enter the ring.

I really don't understand why everybody is rooting for Apple so badly on this topic, it's a classical case of consumers rooting against their own interests.
You also just described the video game console market. And several other existing markets. Generally, if you develop a platform, you own the rules.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
13 months ago

I really don't understand why everybody is rooting for Apple so badly on this topic, it's a classical case of consumers rooting against their own interests.
1) Apple is never in the wrong. Ever.
2) Defend Apple no matter what.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
omihek Avatar
13 months ago
It would be hilarious if the Supreme Court decided to hear only Apple's appeal and not Epic's
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alexe Avatar
13 months ago
I hope Epic wins this in the end. I'm not an Epic fan at all, but Apple is way too big to behave the way it behaves and is definitely stifling competition and innovation at this point.

Taking a 30% cut of every mobile platform transaction when you're one out of two mobile platforms, the other of which is doing the exact same thing, is outrageous.

Google and Apple are enjoying a pseudo-competitive situation, in reality there's no competition and it's an implicit cartel. A duopoly is not a competitive situation, there is absolutely zero pricing pressure on either company because they both know they are the only two platforms available and too big and established for anybody else to have a chance to enter the ring.

I really don't understand why everybody is rooting for Apple so badly on this topic, it's a classical case of consumers rooting against their own interests.

You do realize it's you, the consumer, who ends up paying those 30% extra, right? It's not Epic or Spotify or any other company. It's the consumer for whom things are more expensive, only for the most valuable company in the world to become even richer.

Whether or not you like Epic is beside the point. You can still hate Epic, and of course they are fighting this fight for selfish reasons, but they just happen to be the only ones stepping up to challenge Apple to adopt more consumer-friendly App Store practices, so we should all be thankful for that.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GMShadow Avatar
13 months ago

I hope Epic wins this in the end. I'm not an Epic fan at all, but Apple is way too big to behave the way it behaves and is definitely stifling competition and innovation at this point.

Taking a 30% cut of every mobile platform transaction when you're one out of two mobile platforms, the other of which is doing the exact same thing, is outrageous.

Google and Apple are enjoying a pseudo-competitive situation, in reality there's no competition and it's an implicit cartel. A duopoly is not a competitive situation, there is absolutely zero pricing pressure on either company because they both know they are the only two platforms available and too big and established for anybody else to have a chance to enter the ring.

I really don't understand why everybody is rooting for Apple so badly on this topic, it's a classical case of consumers rooting against their own interests.

You do realize it's you, the consumer, who ends up paying those 30% extra, right? It's not Epic or Spotify or any other company. It's the consumer for whom things are more expensive, only for the most valuable company in the world to become even richer.

Whether or not you like Epic is beside the point. You can still hate Epic, and of course they are fighting this fight for selfish reasons, but they just happen to be the only ones stepping up to challenge Apple to adopt more consumer-friendly App Store practices, so we should all be thankful for that.
Do you actually believe that prices would drop by 30% if the fee were eliminated?

Do you believe stores should be forced to sell products for free?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)