You can now digitize your passport, thanks to Digital ID, the latest feature Apple launched on Wednesday.
Digital ID lets you store your passport information securely in Wallet on your iPhone. You can then use your digital ID as proof of identity to pass through TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports nationwide.
This represents a significant expansion of Apple’s digital identity efforts. Previously, 12 states and Puerto Rico already supported adding driver’s licenses and other IDs to Apple Wallet.
With Digital ID, anyone with a U.S. passport can store that information directly to their iPhone. You can also share your digital ID with a paired Apple Watch.
When it’s time to go through security, you can simply tap your iPhone at the TSA checkpoint and perform a facial or Touch ID scan on your phone to get verified. You can keep your ID in your wallet.
Even better, because you’ve actually presented a digitized version of your passport, you’ll also meet the REAL ID requirement.
Now, before you get too excited, please note that this is not a passport replacement—at least not yet.
You will still need to show your passport at immigration and other places required by law. When launched, the primary use case for digital ID was to facilitate seamless passage through TSA checkpoints.
Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, told me in an exclusive interview that Apple has several additional use cases in the pipeline.
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From car rentals to hotel keys to age verification at bars, Apple’s push to turn digital IDs into alternatives to physical IDs has only just begun.
“Our goal is [to]…Create a standard that we and all other ecosystem partners can adopt, and in the future you will be able to use digital IDs for transit,” she said.
To create your digital ID, make sure your iPhone is updated to iOS 26.1. Then, open the wallet app, tap the button with the “+” icon and scroll to ID card. Follow the steps to add your US passport and after completing a few simple verification steps, your digital ID will be saved to your device.
Please note that your digital ID data is encrypted and your passport data will only be stored on your device. Apple can’t see when and where you presented your ID or what data you presented.
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