New iPhone features just dropped, and they’ll make travelling abroad so much easier

Summer may be over, but it’s never too early to start preparing for your next weekend getaway. A new iOS update released this week means Apple’s products have more functions than ever, so here are all the travel hacks you’ll need on holiday.

No, maybe you won’t fully manage to shake the Brit abroad stereotype, but you’ll be better off than you were. So, whether you freeze at the checkouts in a foreign country or struggle to tackle the most basic interactions in a different language, these iPhone features will be a godsend when travelling.

1. Digital Passport in Apple Wallet

Apple has just confirmed “Digital ID” will be coming later this year on the iOS 26 features page. Soon users will be able to have their passports ready to view on their phones, making it so much easier to show ID and go on holiday (because let’s be real, when do we not have our phones on us?).

Sadly, this feature is only being rolled out to US iPhone users first. But there’s good news: “Digital ID” will soon be available to UK users too. The government announced that by the end of the year, we’ll be able to carry digital driving licences via the GOV.UK Wallet app. And don’t worry Android users, you won’t have to suffer from yet another case of FOMO, because you’ll be able to use the feature as well.

2. A currency exchange system in your calculator

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Have you ever noticed this nifty feature built in to your calculator app? If you have iOS 18 or later, you can view exchange rates for over 200 different currencies. All you need to do is hit the calculator icon at the bottom left of the screen. Then you can just toggle on the “convert” option, and tap to select the currencies you want to use.

You can also use this function to convert temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius, making it much easier to dress for the weather abroad. Just click on one of the values, which will bring up a list of currencies. Above this list there should be a bar containing different categories, so scroll across to temperature and select Fahrenheit or Celsius.

The other scientific conversion categories might come in useful for any fellow gals in STEM. If you fancy a bit of baking, the volume category also makes it easy to convert US cups to millilitres.

3. Live translation with AirPods

iOS 26 has introduced a live iPhone translation feature when travelling, compatible with multiple AirPods models. Users will be able to use the translation app in new “live” mode to have conversations with someone in a different language directly through their AirPods.

There are currently a few limitations to this feature though. At the moment, it’s only compatible with certain models of AirPods (2 and 3 Pro, 4) and the iPhone 15 or later.

Only five languages can be translated too, but with iOS 26.1 an additional eight languages are going to be available. The translation process also involves around 11 steps, including set up. So, you probably won’t get away with coming across as fluent in Spanish, but it’s still a decent upgrade from trying to remember all those 2am Duolingo sessions.