Need to fly domestically, but want to leave your passport or driver's license at home? Apple has you covered, as long as you're using an iOS device and traveling between or within one of the dozen or so states that support digital IDs and Apple Wallet. Unfortunately, it's not clear which states those are, and the TSA's web site is not up to date thanks to the ongoing government shutdown.

The previous version of Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app supported state IDs and driver's licenses. In a similar fashion, users can now snap a shot of the photo page of their physical passport and take a verification selfie to pass to the authorities, who then verify the user is who they're claiming to be. Unlike the driver's license/state ID version, Apple said in Wednesday's press release that the process also uses an iPhone to read the chip embedded in the rear cover of a user's passport to validate the legitimacy of the document.

Once verified, Apple said users will be able to hold their iPhone near an identity reader after opening the Wallet app to present their information at any of the 250-ish airports that support digital identity documents. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees will still need to make sure the Apple user they're interacting with is the right person by looking at their face and comparing it to the digital document, naturally, but that's it – no need to dig that passport or license out of your wallet or purse. If you plan to leave the Real ID at home, make sure both airports on your roundtrip will support digital identity documents.

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According to the TSA's digital ID [2]website , 16 states and Puerto Rico currently support digital IDs, but not all support the use of Apple Wallet. Apple's own site says that the following locations support digital IDs in Wallet: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Puerto Rico, and West Virginia. Either way, best to have your physical ID on hand for backup in case you run into a TSA agent who doesn't know the new rules.

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Apple reassures us it's perfectly safe to send a copy of one's passport across the intertubes for verification, or have it stored on a smartphone that can be picked up by anyone and have the wallet opened with a double-click of the device's side button: The data's encrypted, stored locally, and users can't present the info unless they use Face ID or Touch ID to verify that they're the user. Apple also said that the Wallet app will only present "information needed for a transaction," and claims it can't see when or where users present their digital passports, or what data is being shared.

That's a good thing, given the likely expansion of digital identification that Apple's banking on taking place.

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"In the future, users will be able to present their Digital ID at additional select businesses and organizations for identity and age verification in person, in apps, and online," the iMaker noted. In other words, someday soon you'll be able to use an Apple Digital ID to order booze over the internet, or eventually to prove your age to view online smut, given how [6]that's trending in the US [7]and beyond despite [8]privacy concerns .

[9]UK calls up Armed Forces veterans for digital ID soft launch

[10]Trump guts digital ID rules, claims they help 'illegal aliens' commit fraud

[11]Privacy activists warn digital ID won't stop small boats – but will enable mass surveillance

[12]How to track equipped cars via exploitable e-ink platemaker

Google Wallet, we note, has [13]supported digital passports since last year. Samsung Wallet, the other OEM-made wallet that supports digital IDs, doesn't support passports, only driver's licenses and state IDs. The TSA's site suggests that it only supports digital US passports for domestic travel (physical passports are still needed for any travel outside the US) via Google Wallet, but the agency also notes on the page that it may be out of date due to the [14]ongoing government shutdown .

One would assume Apple wouldn't release this capability without the go-ahead from the feds, so we reached out to the company and the TSA to be sure we're not steering readers toward a confrontation with airport security. We didn't hear back from either. ®

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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aRURhtBdhFCnASkDJNJcDgAAAUw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[2] https://www.tsa.gov/digital-id/participating-states

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aRURhtBdhFCnASkDJNJcDgAAAUw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aRURhtBdhFCnASkDJNJcDgAAAUw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aRURhtBdhFCnASkDJNJcDgAAAUw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/27/supreme_court_texas_smut/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/16/ofcom_age_verification/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/03/utah_pornhub_ban/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/uk_armed_forces_id/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/10/trump_cybersecurity_eo_digital_ids/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/12/privacy_activists_warn_uk_digital_id_risks/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/10/california_digital_platemaker_exploited_to/

[13] https://blog.google/products/google-pay/google-wallet-update-september-2024/

[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/10/federal_cybersecurity_funding_set_to_resume/

[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/