Category: Apple Insider

Apple’s first foldable iPhone may be just months away, but anyone hoping for a stealth black iPhone Fold may have to look elsewhere if the latest leak turns out to be accurate.

With the clock ticking down to an expected September unveiling, we’re seeing more and more iPhone Fold leaks by the day. The latest claims that even Apple doesn’t yet know what colors the device will come in.

Writing in a post to the Chinese social network Weibo, leaker Instant Digital hinted Apple is still deliberating whether to launch a black iPhone Fold. He even went so far as to wonder aloud whether Apple has a grudge against the color.

Apple has moved away from black in its premium iPhones of late. The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max aren’t available in black, for example.

Building on 2025’s snub, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are also expected to skip black. Instead, those models are expected to ship in Dark Cherry, Light Blue, Dark Gray, and Silver.

But all eyes are on the foldable iPhone right now, and Apple has a decision to make.

Thinking time is past

Apple’s reported indecision may explain the lack of concrete rumors around iPhone Fold colors. Reports continue to suggest a white model will be offered, with one other color available for buyers to consider.

With Samsung Display already lined up to produce the foldable display, Apple’s time has surely run out. Manufacturing tests were said to be already underway in April 2026.

We would have expected the iPhone Fold’s colors to have been set in stone before that testing phase.

There is one wild card to be considered, however. If Apple really is yet to choose a second color, it’s possible the iPhone Fold may miss the oft-rumored September/October release window.

It’s unclear how this would tie in with the April testing, though. If we take that report at face value, it seems more likely that the colors are locked in if the fall unveiling is to go ahead.

It’s worth noting that Instant Digital has consistently claimed the iPhone Fold would only be sold in two colors, with one being white.

No matter which colors the iPhone Fold (or is it iPhone Ultra?) comes in, we can expect it to be costly. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has hinted at a price north of $2,000. A previous Ming-Chi Kuo report had it costing as much as $2,500.

AI apps led App Store growth in 2025, with the entire ecosystem garnering $1.4 trillion in payouts. Apple’s take of that is only 10%, assuming you agree with how they count.

Every year, typically right before WWDC, Apple releases a study showing how the App Store has fared over the prior year. In 2025, the App Store facilitated more than $1.4 trillion in developer billings. And, it said that the App Store ecosystem has tripled in size since 2019.

“Developers are the heartbeat of the App Store, and this year’s incredible milestone is a testament to their boundless creativity,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“We are deeply committed to providing developers with the tools, technologies, and trusted platforms they need to build for the future,” Cook added. “Together, developers are creating apps that enrich the lives of users around the world.”

Commission eligible and ineligible revenue

Apple notes that for more than 90 percent of the billings and sales, Apple did not receive a commission. That means that most apps are making money outside of the App Store.

The study reports that 90% of App Store sales are commission-free. The study lists this number as $1,437 billion, or what most people, and Apple, generally call $1.4 trillion.

Interestingly, Apple counts digital goods and services purchased outside the App Store as sales that are not eligible for commissions, but still in the $1.4 trillion total. These include subscriptions to Hulu, Audible, Spotify, and the New York Times.

It’s hard to understand where exactly Apple fits into this. If a person purchases a subscription to, say, YouTube Premium outside of the App Store, but watches it on their Apple TV, does that count in this number?

The methodology mentioned in the study isn’t helpful, either. It reads:

“Sales and distribution of digital goods and services can occur through the App Store in the form of paid app downloads and in-app purchases, through linking out to webstores where content is consumed in-app but payments are made outside of the App Store, or through the sale of digital content and subscriptions from multi-platform apps that allow for the use and consumption of the app, both in the App Store ecosystem and elsewhere.”

It’s unclear whether the data includes purchases made after a user manually enters a website address to buy digital goods, or only purchases made through links accessed via buttons in the app.

The study also doesn’t say where it gets its data, really. A small line reads “data sources include data from Apple, app analytics companies, market research firms, and individual companies.”

So the digital goods and services section is a bit hard to parse. And it accounts for about 10.3% of Apple’s total $1.4 trillion revenue figure, or $149 billion.

Other sources of revenue include physical goods and services, such as buying items on Amazon or ordering delivery through Instacart. Lastly, it mentions in-app advertising revenue, including ads displayed on TikTok, Instagram, and in games.

AI market saturation

This year, Apple is placing special emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), claiming that apps featuring consumer-facing AI have seen four times the growth of their non-AI counterparts. This specifically refers to the top 100 apps, of which 40 currently have some form of consumer-facing AI.

Of course, it’s hard to tell if AI was the primary growth driver or if the most popular apps were going to integrate AI regardless.

For example, 99% of Fortune 500 companies were using AI in some capacity in 2025. Customer service saw a 2199% growth increase between January 2025 and January 2026.

Global growth, by region

The App Store saw growth worldwide in 2025. And in some regions, that growth has exploded in the last several years.

According to the study, billings and sales facilitated by the App Store have more than doubled in China in the last six years. In that same time period, it’s more than tripled in the U.S. and Europe.

Globally, physical goods and services accounted for the majority of all sales made in the App Store.

However, sales differed a little across regions. For example, travel was the second-largest category of spending in physical goods and services in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.

However, in Korea, food delivery was the second most popular. In the Chinese market, grocery and food delivery rounded out the top three slots.

Apple’s investment in developers

In 2025, Apple hosted thousands of developers at its developer centers. There are more than 20 Apple Developer Academies around the world, including Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the U.S.

Apple plans to open a Developer Center in Berlin sometime in 2026.

WWDC 2026 kicks off on June 8, allowing Apple to connect with developers and offer the first look at what tools and technologies will be available for the upcoming Apple operating system lineup.

Developers and students will have access to more than 100 new video sessions about tools, technologies, and design. They will also be invited to participate in Group Labs and join conversations in the Apple Developer Forums.

The best 15-inch MacBook Air deal has returned as Prime Day 2026 nears, delivering a $200 price drop on Apple’s newest model equipped with an M5 chip.

You can grab the $1,099 price at Amazon and B&H Photo in the Midnight finish specifically, with B&H stating limited supply is available at the reduced price. The standard 15-inch MacBook Air model has a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, along with 16GB of unified memory, and 512GB of storage.

• Buy Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $1,099 at Amazon
• Buy Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $1,099 at B&H

With a retail price of $1,299, the $200 discount is the steepest available, as both retailers engage in a price war to grab business as the end of the quarter nears.

You can also save on every other 15-inch configuration in our 15-inch MacBook Air Price Guide, so if you need a model with 32GB of RAM or extra storage, you don’t have to pay full price.

The layout of the iPhone Fold means Apple has to come up with a way to handle portrait iOS apps on a wide screen. The iPad shows the way forward.

The use of a large internal folding screen means the iPhone Fold, also referred to as the iPhone Ultra, has a squarer aspect ratio than available in previous models. That can cause problems for typical iPhone apps, displayed in full screen, as they could be visually distorted on the landscape iPhone Fold.

However, according to one May 31 post on Weibo by Fixed Focus Digital, Apple has already come up with a solution. The leaker says that Apple is working on a “parallel view” for iOS to solve the problem of landscape adaption.

This is described by the leaker as being how the iPad handles apps like Weibo, but with not much further explanation.

While we are working from somewhat mangled machine translations here, it seems that the leaker is referring to Split View. This is a way of arranging two full-screen apps side-by-side on a landscape-orientation iPad display.

This is a feature chiefly framed as a productivity aid, since users can use and work in two apps at the same time. It has the byproduct of allowing both apps to operate in portrait orientations, closer to a normal, narrow iOS app.

Fixed Focus Digital concludes their post by saying that iOS is “excellent” but that its large-screen adaptation has been “relatively weak.”

Weibo leakers like Fixed Focus Digital don’t have the best reputation for rumors and leaks. This is in part due to reusing rumors sourced from elsewhere, as the accounts have to feed content to their massive following.

Fixed Focus Digital is one of the more prominent Weibo leakers, but still has a middling level of accuracy with their posts. In this case, there’s no sourcing or explanation of where the claim stems from, making it hard to verify.

Flipping obvious

What works in their favor is that Apple’s need to create such a feature for the iPhone Fold is painfully obvious. So much so that this was already talked about by Mark Gurman in March.

At that time, Gurman wrote that Apple will bring side-by-side multitasking to iOS, specifically for the iPhone Fold. The in-app sidebars of iPadOS apps will also be usable in iOS as part of the same update.

However, it was insisted that this wasn’t going to be the iPhone Fold running iPadOS. It will still use iOS, but with some features ported from the iPad’s operating system.

Even without Gurman’s previous reporting on the topic, the overall claim is something that could easily be an educated guess.

We know that the iPhone Fold will have a large display, with leaks indicating it will measure about 7.8 inches when completely unfolded. It will also be landscape in orientation when opened out from its normal portrait orientation.

For a screen that large, there has to be some form of software changes to take the massive width into account. Indeed, putting apps on each side of the central hinge is a fairly easily thought-about feature.

As with any product Apple makes, it takes time to marry the software and hardware together into a cohesive whole.

It has no choice but to adapt iOS to work with the new aspect ratio.

The popular $299 iPad 11 deal is back for June, with Amazon slashing prices on Apple’s entire tablet range.

Steep discounts on Apple’s iPad line are in effect at Amazon for June, with a return of the popular $299 iPad 11 deal. At press time, the $50 price cut applies to the Blue, Pink, and Silver color options.

Buy iPad 11 for $299

The $299 price applies to the 128GB Wi-Fi model, but you can also save $50 to $52 on the 256GB and 512GB storage capacities as well.

If you’re looking for support for Apple Intelligence, the 2026 11-inch iPad Air M4 is marked down to as low as $559 at Amazon too.

Here’s a rundown of today’s top deals across Apple’s iPad category:

• iPad A16 (128GB, Wi-Fi): $299 ($50 off)
• iPad mini 7 (128GB, Wi-Fi): $299 ($50 off)
• M4 iPad Air 11-inch (128GB, Wi-Fi): $559 ($40 off)
• M4 iPad Air 13-inch (128GB, Wi-Fi): $749 ($50 off)
• M5 iPad Pro 11-inch (256GB, Wi-Fi, Standard Glass): $899 ($100 off)
• M5 iPad Pro 11-inch (1TB, Wi-Fi, Nano-texture Glass): $1,499 ($200 off)
• M5 iPad Pro 13-inch (1TB, Wi-Fi, Standard Glass): $1,749.99 ($150 off)

We also cover the best iPad deals across the tablet range in our iPad Price Guide.

The Apple smart glasses with cameras and no heads-up display have been rumored for the end of 2026, but could now come at the end of 2027 instead. Though that’s not the whole story.

Rumors about Apple’s smart glasses effort have been increasing in frequency since 2024, but primarily from a single source. One other highly accurate source that has been in play since 2023 has offered a differing timeline, until now.

According to the Bloomberg newsletter “Power On,” Apple is pushing back its smart glasses release to late 2027 after hitting some development snags. While Mark Gurman didn’t offer his usual derogatory pile-on of Apple’s internal struggles, the timeline shift comes as a bit of a surprise.

His initial reports in 2024 around the latest codenamed N50 glasses suggested a 2027 launch window. He later suggested in January 2025 that Apple smart glasses development had hit “massive hurdles” that could take years to get past.

In May 2025, Gurman shared that Apple was aiming for a late 2026 launch window that has been repeated frequently by him since.

He’s also been clear that Apple smart glasses don’t have an AR display, and those would arrive much later. Now, Gurman has been repeating “by the end of the decade,” which, given it is 2026, isn’t exactly that far away.

As recently as February and April 2026, Gurman has repeated that late 2026 release timeline. What is unusual is that there was never any hint of a potential delay or struggle to get the glasses to mass production.

Then comes today’s report shifting the release back an entire year. Also in this report is information about the potential design aspects of the smart glasses.

It seems Apple will try to stand out with unique design elements like “oval-shaped cameras, unique colors, and multiple frame styles.” Apple allegedly also believes future iterations could be seen as a health device that could include AR features that help people see.

Meanwhile, Apple has seemingly run into repeated problems getting iPhone Fold to mass production, which hasn’t started, yet it still reportedly isn’t being pushed back.

So, it seems odd that Apple’s timeline would suddenly shift around 8 months out from announcing the product. But then there’s the other leaker’s timeline.

Enter Ming-Chi Kuo

The other leaker I mentioned earlier is Ming-Chi Kuo, and he has been much more reserved in his leaking frequency on Apple smart glasses. While his history is hit and miss, the details he gets right are enough to have earned him quite the respect in the field.

However, I will note that his accuracy and resources seemed to have dropped since he shifted to his social-media-based leaking patterns of today.

Apple’s AR and VR efforts have been seeing consistent leaks since as early as 2015, but the most recent iteration was discussed by Kuo in 2021. Then, his report was much more forward-looking and thus, wholly inaccurate.

I mean, the man called for Apple Vision Pro in 2022, full-AR Apple Glass in 2025, and AR contact lenses by 2030. It is a wild report in retrospect.

Jump forward to something a little less speculative, and his reporting has been consistent with the Apple smart glasses release window. In June 2025, Kuo reported that Apple was aiming to ship three to five million Meta Ray-Ban-like smart glasses in the second quarter of 2027.

Given Kuo’s strong suit is the supply chain and the fact that he had shipping estimates, it is easy to argue that he’s had the correct timeline all along. So, it is curious that Gurman has been saying late 2026 or early 2027 until today.

Game of leaks

Of course, all of these rumors are nebulous and will always shift and move as new information is obtained. Accuracy isn’t always easy to determine too since the age of a leak once it is released is rarely known.

For example, Kuo might have heard from the supply chain that Apple’s supply-side management aimed for an initial order in 2027. Gurman might have heard from his internal source, likely on or near the Vision Product Group, that the internal team’s goals were the end of 2026.

Then, as deadlines were missed and supply chains shifted, the internal team finally realized that their stretch goal wasn’t possible. Which means shifting back to the supply-chain suggested goal of 2027, thus making them meet Kuo’s previously reported timeline.

In essence, both leakers could have accurately reported what they had heard, and both be correct in this instance. Then there’s also the chance they’re both wrong and Apple announces smart glasses at a completely different time.

However, Gurman has proven somewhat unreliable when it comes to reporting around the Vision Product Group. As Daring Fireball pointed out, Gurman completely missed the Apple Vision Pro update to M5 when he reported in January 2025 that “I don’t believe there will be a new headset from Apple this year.”

Then, later in April 2025, Gurman said a lighter Apple Vision product could ship by the end of 2025 or early 2026 and even suggested that the M5 refresh had been abandoned. The unchanged M5 model shipped in October 2025 instead.

There is no doubt that Gurman has some insider connections that give him unprecedented access into Apple’s inner workings. However, it is important to note that he is no foolproof and does make mistakes — often when trying to create a narrative around an otherwise innocuous leak.

WWDC is on June 8 and could provide a hint of what the rest of Apple’s year might look like. However, since the initial set of Apple Smart Glasses won’t have a display, there is unlikely to be any sign of them in visionOS 27.

Then there’s the fact that Apple has several glasses-related products in development beyond the N50. Several of which, we have no idea what they are or when they could release.

There’s always the chance that one set is coming at the end of 2026 and another in 2027. Apple’s supply chain is immense and these leakers may be describing different parts of different elephants.

Time will tell if the smart glasses will arrive in the next twelve months. In this case, I’d bet on Kuo’s initial report of a late 2027 launch until he says otherwise.

The Android client for Apple Music has hinted at new subscription tiers, opening the possibility for a cheaper plan with some added restrictions. It won’t be free.

Since its conception, Apple Music has provided the same general level of service to all users regardless of their actual subscription plan. Sure, you can get it as an Individual, Family, Student, or Apple One subscription, but you get the same service across the board.

However, code strings spotted by Aaron Perris on X hints that change is on the horizon. The developer beta for Apple Music on Android includes a few specific lines that don’t apply to the current service at all.

One line is an error message stating “Premium access required.” The other error message about reaching a “skip limit,” displaying the message “Can’t skip any more tracks” to the user.

These messages are interesting, but cannot possibly work for the way Apple Music currently operates.

Radio station skips and tier talk

Apple currently doesn’t have a “premium” tier at all. Nor does it have any tiers providing a limited service to users at a cheaper price.

There is the 30-day free trial, but that doesn’t really count at all, as you still get the full service.

A plausible explanation from Perris is that it could be for something unrelated, such as radio stations. However, this is doubtful to work with Apple’s current radio stations at all.

An alternative idea would be something similar to Spotify’s playlists, where free users have a limited number of skips in some cases.

It is plausible for Apple to introduce a skip system for programmatic radio stations that has limitations. But it would only be feasible if Apple were to introduce a lower tier of service.

A cheaper plan with more restrictions than the full-fat service makes sense in this context. It would mean the full-priced users retain the ability to skip without restrictions, while the “lite” users face limits.

It would also be a justifiable explanation for the “Premium access required” message. Users paying less than full-price subscribers would naturally have parts of the experience blocked off or curtailed, requiring such a message to be needed.

Not free

While the messages certainly correlate with the idea of a lower-priced “lite” tier, it does not mean that Apple will be bringing out a completely free tier of Apple Music.

Aside from the trials, Apple Music has never been offered completely free to users without engaging in some kind of offer. For example, being offered as a benefit of a mobile phone contract.

Apple certainly could make a free tier if it wanted to, joining rivals like Spotify in the process. It just won’t, because Apple believes it works against the artist.

In an interview in April, Apple Music VP Oliver Schusser argued that free ad-supported tiers devalue music. The paid subscription is a prioritization of artist compensation and consistent pricing, he insisted.

“I think it’s not the right thing for songwriters and artists to just say, you know what, we’re going to give this away for free,” he said. “Especially with the very little monetization that artists and songwriters are going to get in return.”

With Apple keen to keep Apple Music a paid service, that makes a free option extremely unlikely to arrive anytime soon, if ever.

The Detroit Apple Developer Academy’s fifth year is underway, with the next generation of iPhone developers joining a program whose expense and success have been questioned.

The only developer academy of its kind in North America, the developer academy is a collaboration between Apple, Michigan State University, and the Gilbert Family Foundation. It offers a range of free programs, including the option for a full nine-month learning experience.

The Detroit academy is just one of 19 around the world. All of them help students learn how to design and create their apps, with an eye on turning them into full-fledged businesses.

In a newsroom post announcing the fifth commencement, Apple notes that more than 70% of the people who start the free academy go on to complete the program.

A history of (some) success

Apple talks a big game, but the results speak for themselves. Saamer Mansoor was part of the academy’s original cohort as the world continued to get to grips with the COVID pandemic. After he and his teammates realized they all knew someone with hearing difficulties, they set about creating BeAware Deaf Assistant.

Using Apple’s Neural Engine to handle real-time transcription and translation, the app became a hit. It’s now been translated into 25 spoken languages and is used by institutions including the George Washington University.

Mansoor wasn’t a one-off, either. Courey Jiminez is a 2026 academy graduate and Swift Student Challenge winner who credits the academy with teaching her the skills she needed.

“I had never heard of challenge-based learning prior to coming here. It taught me to dig deeper into the research and to be OK with pivoting if my idea shifts along the way,” the Detroit native noted.

Now, Jiminez is in project management, supporting coders and designers while managing the overall vision of the app being worked on.

If you’re keen to learn more and perhaps get involved with an Apple Developer Academy near you, Apple’s dedicated website is a good place to start.

Question marks

However, its academies aren’t without their detractors. The Detroit academy in particular has come under fire. Huge costs and questions around its ability to set students up for a job in the future left some wondering whether it’s worth the expense.

For Apple’s part, the academies are a key aspect of its continued success. They may be free to students, but Apple knows that teaching them to build apps for its platforms is good business sense for the future of those platforms.

As for the students, Apple is quick to tout its wins, but some have questioned whether it is the outright success it’s claimed to be.

Microsoft will be effectively bricking the standalone Office 2019 for Mac, iPad, and iPhone users on July 13, 2026. There’s not much you can do about it, other than buy again, or subscribe to Office 365.

In October, Microsoft officially ended support for Office 2019 for Mac, a standalone version of its ubiquitous productivity suite. While support was no longer provided, users could still use the software.

Unfortunately, that’s about to change no matter how old your hardware is, and regardless of what version of Apple’s OSes you’re running.

Starting July 13, 2026, Microsoft will disable almost all functionality for Microsoft Office users on macOS 11 Big Sur. It will also put Office 2019 into read-only mode for all users, regardless of OS.

It’s also bricking its mobile apps on devices running iPadOS 16 and iOS 16 or earlier.

Here’s what that means for you.

You can still access your files

Before you start to panic, don’t worry; you will still be able to access all of your Microsoft Office files.

What you won’t be able to do, however, is edit them, save them, or create any new files. Instead, you’ll be relegated to what Microsoft charitably calls “reduced functionality mode.”

It really should be called “give us more money mode.”

In this mode, you can view and print files, but you cannot edit, save, or create new files. At all. If you want to interact with your files in any meaningful way, you have a couple of different options.

Users with Microsoft 365 and Office 2021

If you’re on macOS 11 or earlier, you’ll need to upgrade to macOS 12 Monterey, or later to continue using Microsoft Office 365 or Office 2021. Doing so is relatively easy, assuming your Mac supports it.

To update, you’ll need to:

1. Open Settings
2. Click the General tab
3. If available, click Software Update and follow the instructions

For mobile users, updating your iPad or iPhone is done by following the steps below.

1. Open the Settings app
2. Tap General
3. If available, tap Software Update and follow the instructions

If your Mac or mobile device of choice doesn’t support the minimum required operating system, you’re not entirely out of options, either.

If your Mac doesn’t support macOS 12 or newer, you can purchase a Microsoft 365 subscription and use Microsoft 365 from your preferred browser.

This may not be the most convenient way to access your files long term, but it will allow you to edit and save them.

Important: You’ll notice we didn’t mention Office 2024, and for good reason. Office 2024 requires macOS 14, that’s macOS Sonoma, so those users are already in the clear.

If you’re running Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac in 2026

While Microsoft’s support documentation is not entirely clear, it seems as though the company is effectively bricking Office 2019 for all macOS users, regardless of operating system.

This means that even if you’re running macOS 26, the most recent iteration of Apple’s operating system, you will lose most functionality within Office 2019. This isn’t terribly ideal, especially since many online vendors are still actively selling Office 2019 to users.

Unfortunately, regardless of what you do, you’re going to be forced to move to an updated version. This includes either purchasing a one-time license like Office 2021 or Office 2024 or subscribing to Microsoft 365.

AppleInsider suggests that you opt for Office 2024 if you choose a one-time license. Microsoft clearly states that it only supports one-time purchase software for five years.

This means that Office 2021 is losing support in late 2026. By purchasing Office 2024, you should still receive support until 2029, based on Microsoft’s stated five-year support window.

Of course, you could also take this as a sign to move to Apple’s free iWork suite, LibreOffice, or other solutions.

In a growing number of states, you can add your ID to Apple Wallet. Here’s how to add them, how they work, where they are, what the limitations are, and what they can do.

We’re moving closer and closer to a world where you can ditch your physical wallet. You can already add your credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards, tickets and boarding passes, and most recently — your driver’s license to Apple Wallet.

But the license rollout is not everywhere. This has increased the uncertainty on whether or not your ID can be added and if it can be, where it can be accepted.

This article was last updated on May 27, 2026.

How to add your ID to Apple Wallet

Adding your driver’s license to Apple Wallet is simple.

• Open the Wallet app on your iPhone
• Tap the + button in the top-right corner
• Tap Driver’s License and ID Cards
• Walk through the verification process

The verification process will include ways to ensure you are the same person who is adding the ID. You’ll have to scan the front and back of your ID as well as take a series of selfies to match your image on file with the department of motor vehicles in your state.

Apple also introduced a digital ID based on the U.S. passport in iOS 26. Functionally similar to the licenses, it can be used as a form of identification at TSA lines, but it’s not used as an actual passport. It provides a way to make the ID without the person needing a driving license.

The process is similar, except it uses your passport.

IDs can only be added to one phone at a time. If you are setting up a new device before wiping your old one, your ID may fail to add until the erase is complete and the servers catch up.

Which states support digital IDs

One of the bigger problems with digital IDs is where they are supported. As each digital ID is managed by the issuing state, every state has to implement its own program to support them.

As of April 6, 2026, there are 14 states and territories that support Driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet.

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Maryland
• Montana
• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• West Virginia
• Puerto Rico

Which states will soon support digital IDs

More and more states are adding support, though. Other states, like Utah, have pledged support but have not implemented it yet.

As for where those states planning to support digital IDs in Apple Wallet are, the list as of April 6, 2026, includes:

• Connecticut
• Kentucky
• Mississippi
• Oklahoma
• Utah
• Virginia

Timelines for the states have not been confirmed, but they have been announced as being on board with the program.

To keep up to date, keep an eye here at AppleInsider, the TSA site, or Apple’s official list.

How to use digital IDs in Apple Wallet

In an ideal world, a digital ID would be accepted in any place your physical ID is accepted. It’s not that simple.

The most common use for these digital licenses is in airports for TSA. Here in Ohio, we’ve tried it at all the major airports, including Columbus John Glenn International, CAK, and Cleveland Hopkins.

It’s so easy to walk through the TSA line, tap your phone to verify, and keep walking. Of course, if you fly to a state that doesn’t support digital IDs, you’ll still need your physical ID for the return trip.

Outside of airports, there’s not much else you can use it for. Places like bars, liquor stores, doctor’s offices, don’t accept it. There are just a handful of police districts that do, so even if you live in a state that it’s supported, you still need to carry your ID card around.

The Ohio BMV offers a free iOS verification app that businesses can sign up for and use to verify any identities with a tap.

That sounds ideal, but in our experience, it is very limited. We’ve found only one business that had the app to verify our age.

Most retailers still requested our physical card to scan the code on the back or swipe it into their legacy point of sale system. That makes it difficult and still necessary to carry around your physical license.

Using digital IDs in apps

Of course, there are other uses for digital IDs rather than just in the physical world. Your ID can also be used in apps.

Apps that support Apple Wallet ID can similarly verify things like your age or identity. Apple says Clear, MyChart, UberEats, and others will be adding support, though it doesn’t look like any of them have as of August 8, 2025.

It’s all about privacy

One of the best parts of digital IDs is the privacy. You only share very limited information.

When you give someone your actual ID, they have all of that info displayed there. With a digital ID, you are only sharing what you are required to share.

How it works is that when your ID is requested by either a tap or an app, a card appears with the information that needs to be shared. Before you approve the request, the iPhone will explicitly list what’s being asked for, before you accept the request.

Some may only need your name, while others may only need to request your age. That data is then encrypted, transmitted, and never stored.

Digital IDs may not appeal to everyone, but adoption has started to increase. Hopefully, we’ll see more states, police departments, apps, and businesses start supporting it as more states and users add it too.

Update November 18, 2025: Added Illinois to the list of supported states

Update April 6, 2026: Added Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia to the coming-soon list.

Update May 27, 2026: Moved Arkansas from coming-soon to the list of supported states