The latest twist in the long-running legal fight between Apple and Epic Games has delivered a major blow to the company’s App Store operations.In a ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found Apple in willful violation of a 2021 injunction designed to stop the company’s anticompetitive App Store practices.According to the 80-page order, Apple “thwarted the injunction’s goals” by imposing new fees and obstacles that continued to stifle competition, despite clear instructions from the court.
The judge didn’t just sanction Apple — she referred the matter to the U.S.Attorney’s Office for possible criminal contempt proceedings.Epic Games, which first sued Apple in 2020 over App Store restrictions and commissions, described Apple’s recent behavior as a blatant attempt to rewrite the rules.
The court agreed, highlighting internal Apple documents and testimony that revealed a coordinated effort to preserve billions in App Store revenue under the guise of compliance.Apple’s VP of Finance, Alex Roman, was found to have lied under oath, according to the document.Internal documents contradicted public testimony and showed Apple knowingly chose anticompetitive options.
Apple Fellow Phil Schiller advocated for compliance with the court’s order, per the ruling, but CEO Tim Cook sided with the finance team to preserve revenue, ignoring the court’s directive.The court has now barred Apple from charging its 27% commission on external purchases and ordered it to immediately stop interfering with developers’ ability to communicate alternative payment options to users.The judge specifically called out Apple’s use of full-page “scare screens” designed to deter users from leaving the App Store payment flow, its requirement that developers use static, non-dynamic URLs when linking to alternative payment methods, and its policy of still claiming a commission on web purchases made outside the App Store.
These design choices, the court found, were engineered to introduce friction and suppress user conversion.By requiring static URLs, Apple limited developers’ ability to pass contextual data or personalize checkout flows — a common practice in modern e-commerce.Meanwhile, the scare screens served to discourage users from completing external transactions, undermining the intent of the injunction, which was to enable meaningful competition outside Apple’s in-app payment system.
The judge described Apple’s behavior as a blatant attempt to sidestep the court’s authority, writing that the company’s response “strains credulity” and amounted to a cover-up Apple seemingly believed the court wouldn’t uncover.Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney claimed victory on social media following the ruling: Do more with your iPhone USB-C charger MagSafe battery Wireless CarPlay adapter Craft for iPhone, iPad, Mac Fantastical + Cardhop Follow Zac Hall: X | Threads | Instagram | Mastodon You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop.
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