Epic Games wants the court to order Apple to hand over its App Store fee documents by November 1, 2026. Apple says it will substantially finish by November 25 and puts the blame for the delay on Epic.
The two companies laid out their sides in a joint status update filed with the court, as reported by 9to5Mac. The documents are meant to show how Apple arrived at its proposed commission of up to 15% for off-App Store purchases, and Epic gets to examine them before it formally responds.
Apple put forward the 5% to 15% structure in August to replace the 27% fee it introduced in 2024. The court later held Apple in contempt, and Apple is now asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling. A lower court is separately deciding what, if anything, Apple can charge on external link purchases. Apple tried to pause that work, but both the lower court and the Supreme Court turned down the request.
Epic wants the court to set a November 1 deadline for Apple
In the filing, Epic says that nearly two months after its production deadline, Apple has scarcely produced any documents. It adds that Apple will not commit to a date for finishing, which Epic argues makes court intervention essential.
Epic is asking the court to order Apple to do two things:
- Begin rolling document productions right away and finish on a reasonable timeline, by no later than November 1, 2026.
- Produce all relevant documents by that deadline, without the limits on scope that Apple has set for itself.
Apple says Epic’s late and sweeping requests caused the delay
Apple says it already met its initial obligation to produce documents explaining how it set the proposed rates. It argues Epic took weeks to submit additional requests, then asked for extensive searches involving 27 individuals.
Apple says it has agreed to all of those searches and expects to substantially complete its production by November 25. It also says Epic caught it off guard by asking the court for a November 1 deadline without discussing the date first, and that Epic should have raised its objections to the scope of the production with Apple before going to the judge.
Epic rejects that explanation and says Apple feigns surprise at every request, even though the parties, the court, Magistrate Judge Hixson and three court-appointed special masters only recently finished a months-long process to pull documents out of Apple that Epic was clearly entitled to receive.
Apple says four executives set the new rates and Epic disagrees
Apple maintains that only four senior executives were involved in deciding the new rates. They are Tim Cook, Eddy Cue, Kevan Parekh and Carson Oliver. Apple describes that process as much narrower than the one behind its original 27% commission, and says it leaned heavily on work done by outside experts.
Epic argues the decision also drew on discussions and studies from other teams at Apple, including work on alternative commission structures in markets outside the United States. The two sides are also split on whether Epic should get documents about Apple’s international commission policies.
