The government of New South Wales in Australia today announced that the Opal ticketing system now supports Express Mode for Apple Pay payments, allowing the fare card to be added to the Wallet app on a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch for tap-and-go payments across the public transport network.
Express Transit mode allows users to pay for rides without having to wake or unlock their iPhone or Apple Watch, or open the Opal app. The mode also bypasses the need to authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. Users simply need to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near the contactless payment reader until a checkmark appears on the display.
Transport for NSW undertook a staggered rollout of Express Mode across the 25,000 card readers on the Opal network, starting with ferries and light rail, then train stations, and then the thousands of Opal readers on buses, which finished this week.
"Commuters in the Hunter, Illawarra, Blue Mountains and everywhere in between will benefit from being the first public transport users in Australia to benefit from the mass roll out of this initiative," said NSW transport minister Jo Haylen. "It will make life so much easier for the almost two million transport passengers who use contactless payments with a digital wallet in NSW."
How to Set Up Express Transit on iPhone
Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
Tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
Tap Express Transit Card.
Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None.
Authenticate your device using Touch ID or Face ID.
If your bank card doesn't support Express Transit, you'll get an error message telling you that the card is incompatible. If no error message appears, you're good to tap-and-go.
How to Set Up Express Transit on Apple Watch
Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
Tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
Tap Express Transit Card.
Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None.
Authenticate by entering your passcode on your Apple Watch.
If your bank card doesn't support Express Transit, you'll get an error message telling you that the card is incompatible. If no message appears, you're all set.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future.
"I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre.
Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
It's very smart of Apple to do this. They won't make any money from this kind of deal but it eventually locks people into their iPhones further so they can't switch away easily. Use your iPhone as a transit payment method, credit card, driver's license, car key, house key, etc. Suddenly, one day, you depend on your iPhone for pretty much everything and it's impossible to switch.
Luckily, I'm an AAPL shareholder so lock away.
Nope. In NYC, the system works with NFC-enabled credit cards and Android phones with NFC -- as well as the dedicated OMNY card you can buy (with cash, even, for users who don't have access to banks). I'd imagine this Australian system works much the same way, and even just in the article photo you can see the credit card logos above the reader.
So, no, nobody is "locked" into using an Apple device, fortunately. As a transit user and a taxpayer, I'd be rightly pissed if any one company had a monopoly on contactless fares, regardeless of what it means for your stock holdings.
