Apple Fails to Block $995M UK App Store Commission Lawsuit

A UK class action lawsuit against Apple over App Store commission fees will proceed after judges dismissed the company's attempt to block the case, Bloomberg reports.

app store blue banner uk fixed
Led by competition policy professor Sean Ennis, the suit alleges Apple's 15-30% commission on App Store sales creates an anti-competitive tax on the UK technology industry. The lawsuit seeks £785 million ($995 million) in damages on behalf of UK app developers. The case could potentially benefit up to 13,000 developers who have sold apps or in-app subscriptions to iOS users since July 2017.

The lawsuit follows similar challenges worldwide over Apple's App Store policies. Apple in January announced changes to its App Store terms in response to European Union regulations, but these modifications have also faced criticism from EU watchdogs for potentially making conditions worse for developers.

This latest legal challenge expands on a previous suit filed last year, which initially represented around 1,500 UK developers. Professor Ennis, who previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice and European Commission, secured funding for the case through Harbour Litigation Funding.

Apple has consistently defended its App Store practices, maintaining that most developers pay no commission and that the platform provides valuable security and development resources. The company also emphasizes that developers can reach users through web browsers, where Apple's rules don't apply.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....

Top Rated Comments

cjsuk Avatar
11 months ago

Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol
Amazing that despite this we managed to elect a Oxford Civil Law graduate as our Prime Minister instead of a convict.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dantay Avatar
11 months ago

Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol
Lol……you guys just elected a convicted felon for president and have more deaths from opioid overdoses than cancer or heart disease. People in glass houses that big shouldn’t even glance at a stone.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Techwatcher Avatar
11 months ago
Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
11 months ago

The sense of entitlement extends beyond millennials to the EU and UK. Apple built the iPhone and supporting platforms to support the iPhone. For a developer, they created (with no assistance from outside organizations) a market where folks could make a living. You can create physical things like cases....you can create software. If Apple had not created any of this....there would be no iPhone app to create. What is so hard about paying a fee to participate in a market that you had absolutely nothing to do with creating? I don't understand why folks feel they are entitled to sell their iPhone products with no fees to Apple. It's not anti-competitive - everyone pays the same fees.

Here's another idea....go off and create your own device. Then create your own software for that device. No fees.
You know, before smartphones arrived, people who wanted to create a program to run on a computer did so and offered it however they wanted (over the internet) without having to get permission from the device maker or give the device maker a cut.

I say we go back to that model. And for developers who want to stick with Apple's App Store, Google's Play Store, Microsoft's store, they're all free to do so.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gusping Avatar
11 months ago
Lol at all the people who think things have dramatically changed since Brexit. They haven’t got a clue about the underlying legislation. Worry about Trump, first.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
11 months ago

Where is the Google, Sony, Steam, Nintendo, Xbox, etc lawsuit?
Are you asking for an update to the lawsuit where Alphabet/Google are being sued for £7 billion?

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241125957382/en/Hausfeld-UK-Competition-Court-Throws-Out-Google%E2%80%99s-Challenge-to-%C2%A37bn-Consumer-Lawsuit-Paving-Way-for-Full-Court-Showdown


The lawsuit against Sony for $7.9 billion?

https://www.reuters.com/technology/sony-facing-79-bln-mass-lawsuit-over-playstation-store-prices-2023-11-21/


Nintendo paid their fine decades ago

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/31/business/europe-fines-nintendo-147-million-for-price-fixing.html


Microsoft got sued today by the UK for allegedly overcharging rival cloud firms’ customers

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/03/microsoft-overcharging-rival-cloud-firms-customers-uk-lawsuit-says.html


I guess a suit against Apple is going too far? ?‍♂️
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)