You can now use your iPhone as your Digital ID–here’s how
Apple announced its new Digital ID initiative at WWDC in June, but the feature didn’t ship with iOS 26 – it was one of the few announcements that took a little longer to come to our iPhones. Now, Apple has made digital IDs available to anyone running iOS 26.1. No other software updates are available; Apple enabled this feature with a server-side switch.
Digital identity is essentially a copy of your passport and is limited in availability and use. It currently requires a U.S. passport that hasn’t expired, and once your digital ID is created, you can only use it during a beta test as an ID for TSA at about 250 airports, and only for domestic travel.
Eventually, the goal is to allow it as an ID in other places and businesses, including online, to verify your age or identity. Apple explicitly notes: “Digital ID is not a substitute for a physical passport and cannot be used for international travel and border crossings in place of a U.S. passport. »
Creating your digital ID
You must have an iPhone running iOS 26.1 or an Apple Watch running watchOS 26.1.
- Open wallet
- Tap the + button at the top of the screen.
- Select Driving licenses and ID cards.
- Select Digital identification.
- Choose whether you want to add your digital ID to iPhone and Apple Watch or iPhone only.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to scan your passport, hold your iPhone against the chip embedded in the back of your passport.
- Follow the prompts to take a photo of yourself and additional live movements. This is similar to setting up Face ID.
- You will then submit your information for verification and, once complete, your passport will be added to your Apple Wallet.
This can be a convenient form of identification for people in the United States who are traveling domestically but don’t have a state-issued ID with Real ID or whose state hasn’t added support in Apple Wallet. But it can’t be used everywhere where your passport may be required, especially for international travel, so you’ll always want to keep your physical passport on hand.
