A trial opening on Monday in which plaintiffs want more than one billion pounds is set to answer that question.
The complaint, filed in May 2021, accuses Apple of breaching European and UK competition laws by “its exclusion of any other app stores from iOS devices” like iPhones and iPads.
It claims that some 20 million Apple users may have been overcharged by the company “due to its ban on rival app store platforms.”
The complainants say a “30 per cent surcharge” that the company “imposes” on apps purchased through Apple’s App Store comes at the “expense of ordinary consumers.”
The case, which Apple has called “meritless”, has been brought by Kings College London academic Rachael Kent and the law firm Hausfeld & Co.
The trial is set to last seven weeks at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London.
At the heart are accusations that Apple used the App Store to exclude competitors, forcing users to use its system and boosting profits in the process.
“The 30 per cent surcharge relates to most of the applications that you’re going to be using when you’re downloading and making in-app purchases on the App Store,” Kent told AFP, citing dating platform Tinder as an example.
However, it does not apply to applications offering physical products, such as the delivery services Deliveroo and Uber Eats, the academic specifies.
Any user who purchased applications or subscriptions in the British version of the App Store between October 1, 2015, and November 15, 2024, may be entitled to compensation from Apple, believes Kent, a lecturer in the digital economy.
The claim seeks total estimated damages of £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion).
According to British law, in this type of class action, all potentially affected persons are included in the procedure by default and may benefit from possible compensation, unless they voluntarily opt out.
