Apple has finally put numbers on the table. In a filing submitted on 14 August to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the company proposed charging commissions of up to 15% on purchases made through external links inside iOS apps — the long-awaited answer to the court's request in its antitrust battle with Epic Games.
Under the proposal, standard apps would pay 15% on payments made through link-out purchases, small business developers 5%, and developers in Apple's Video Partner Program, News Partner Program and Mini Apps Partner Program 10%. Subscription renewals would also drop to 10%. Apple had tried to stall the disclosure, arguing the lower-court proceedings should wait for the Supreme Court to rule on a related matter — whether Apple was in contempt of a court order when it imposed a 27% commission on external-link purchases and restricted how developers could present those links. But the Supreme Court rejected Apple's bid to pause the case on Thursday, forcing the filing.
Apple's position is that it should be permitted to charge fees on purchases made by users of its devices as compensation for the tools, technology and services that keep the App Store and iOS running. The company also compared its proposed rates with those on Google Play, which charges 20% for link-outs on standard apps, 15% for apps in special programs and 10% for subscription renewals — rates Epic Games itself agreed to.
The proposal does not resolve the fight; it opens the next phase. Epic has long argued that any commission on transactions routed outside Apple's payment system is anticompetitive, and the court will now have to decide whether the proposed structure satisfies its earlier order. Whatever the outcome, the numbers will shape commissions for the millions of developers who sell digital goods through iOS apps — and set a benchmark for regulators scrutinizing app-store economics on both sides of the Atlantic.
