Apple’s 27% External Link Fee Heads to Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s decision to take up Apple’s appeal against an Epic Games contempt ruling reframes what has always been a dispute about money as a question about judicial authority. Apple isn’t asking the court to say its 27 percent commission on external payment links was fair. It’s asking the court to define how literally a company must follow a court order before it can be punished for violating it.

The underlying timeline matters here. A 2021 court order told Apple to let developers link users to outside payment options. Apple complied in the narrowest possible sense, adding those links while attaching a 27 percent commission to any purchase made through them. Epic, which makes Fortnite, argued the fee gutted the practical value of the links entirely. A judge agreed in early 2025, finding Apple in contempt for violating the spirit of the original order, and an appeals court upheld that finding.

Apple’s argument to the Supreme Court is procedural rather than commercial. It contends that contempt should only apply when a company violates the exact written terms of an order, not a judge’s interpretation of its intent. That is a narrow but consequential legal theory, and it’s the question the justices will actually be deciding.

What the timeline means for developers

The case will be heard during the October term, with a decision expected by summer 2027. Until then, the fee structure governing external payment links remains in legal limbo, and developers building around those links have little certainty about what they’ll owe Apple on a transaction.

The ruling will carry weight well beyond this dispute. How much a platform owner can charge on purchases routed outside its own system is a question regulators in multiple markets are already wrestling with independently. A Supreme Court decision setting the standard for contempt enforcement could shape how those fights play out in practice.