Last week, MacRumors reported that Apple Pay's Express Transit mode was being tested at some London Underground stations. And now, Apple has formally announced that Express Transit mode is live across all Transport for London services, including the tube, buses, trains, and trams.
Apple has been alerting customers in the United Kingdom about this news by email, pointing them to a new page on its website with more details.
Express Transit mode eliminates the need to authenticate your payment with Face ID or Touch ID. And you don't need to wake or unlock your device, either. Simply tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on the card reader and go. You'll need an iPhone 6s and newer or an Apple Watch Series 1 or newer.
If you have an iPhone XS or newer, Express Transit mode even works for up to five hours after your iPhone shuts off and displays a red battery icon.
To set up a card for use with Express Transit mode, open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Wallet & Apple Pay > Express Transit Card. Select a card and then authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.
In related news, Apple has started advertising Apple Pay with Express Transit mode on some MetroCard fare cards in New York City, as shared on Reddit. The MTA added support for the feature earlier this year. Express Transit mode is also supported in Portland, Beijing, Shanghai, and parts of Japan.
Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps.
More features and changes will follow in future ...
Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by Juli Clover
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass.
The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec).
The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions.
iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet.
The update will likely be released by the end of next week.
Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more.
With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings.
iOS 26.4 will...
Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year.
The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by Juli Clover
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year.
Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
At first I liked this idea, but then I realized all the work that apple did to make the phones a worthless target for thieves is impacted by this feature. I sure hope not. Maybe the day or two someone is able to get free transit with a stolen phone before the associated card is cancelled won’t be enough to inspire thefts. But the thought of increased iPhone thefts and needing to cancel cards makes this possibly annoying.
You guys really need to start taking responsibility for your actions. If you’re so in danger all the time and so worried/paranoid then just use a flip phone.
First people complain about their spouse being able to unlock their phone using Touch ID when they sleep, then it was being able to unlock Face ID when someone is asleep and now you’re worried about Express Transit if someone steals your phone?
Stop using the features then.
“AirPods are too small, I keep losing them.” Stop buying them then.
All of these things are optional.
Just to be clear, if I enable express mode on a card will that mean the card will work without authentication on regular contactless purchases?
No this is literally only solely for TRANSIT. It will not work on anything else. Apple could do this with other companies, but for security they’re probably just testing it with transit. Makes sense.
What about the security implications? ie, if your handset is lost/stolen it can be used without any authentication?
I don't use the Underground very often, but when I do I usually authenticate as Im walking up to the barrier, so my handset is ready before I get to it.....
Bear in mind that the maximum you can spend on your Oyster card in a day is, I think, around £10. So in the worst case that's the most you could lose - nobody would be able to use it in a shop to pay for anything. I think the compromise is fine and certainly no worse than losing your actual oyster card or contactless credit card
Well butter my biscuits... that sounds like a nightmare for security.
No more so than contactless payment cards, and despite all the alarmist predictions when they were launched several years ago they've not become a significant security issue.
I live in an area that does not have mass transit but I still think this in an incredibly cool idea to speed up the payment process for those who take mass transit.
