Apple made no reference to bitcoin, crypto, stablecoins or tokenised assets during its 9 September product launch, but several of its announcements have implications for the blockchain industry.
The event was the first led by new chief executive John Ternus, who unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the Duo. New Apple Watches and Airpods 5 were also announced.
The crypto community largely responded with jokes about the new phones’ prices in bitcoin and whether one half of the Duo’s screen could be used for trading while the other explained cryptocurrency to family members. However, Apple’s payment strategy, image verification, artificial intelligence and mobile security developments may be more significant.
Payments and stablecoins
Apple did not announce further payment features after expanding Wallet and Apple Cash at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2026.
Payments remain the area most closely watched by the crypto asset industry because Apple has more than a billion active iPhones. Its next move could indicate whether the company intends to support crypto payments directly or add digital assets to its Wallet. Based on worldwide trends, stablecoins appear the most likely crypto assets Apple might eventually support.
The services introduced in June showed that Apple is continuing to expand its payments infrastructure. Apple Cash gained bill-splitting, Wallet began accepting user-created passes, Apple Pay checkout was redesigned and Tap to Share was added.
Apple Cash operates through Green Dot Bank, while Apple Payments Services LLC acts as a service provider. That arrangement resembles the structure expected of a licensed US stablecoin issuer from 2027: a non-bank layer operating on top of a chartered bank. Stablecoins could therefore be considered if Apple expands Split Bill with Apple Cash beyond the US.
As reported by Bitcoin.com News, Apple’s crypto strategy could depend as much on other executives and broader market trends as on Ternus.
Image verification
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will offer an optional Apple Reference Image feature, designed to help users establish that a photograph has not been edited.
The system displays the reference image alongside the standard photograph in the Photos app, leaving users to compare the two manually and trust Apple’s process.
Public blockchains could provide stronger evidence by recording a photograph’s original timestamp cryptographically. That would not prove the file had never been altered, but it would establish what was recorded and when.
Bitcoin developer Peter Todd created OpenTimestamps, which allows files including photographs to be timestamped on the Bitcoin blockchain, proving they existed at or before a particular Bitcoin block.
“Governments are definitely going to get special abilities to fake photos through mechanisms like this. Because they can get secret access to Apple’s signing keys,” Todd wrote on X.
Public blockchains could therefore be one way for Apple to strengthen Apple Reference Image in future.
AI access and phone security
Apple also confirmed that features including Siri AI, intelligent photo-editing tools and Image Playground will remain subject to daily limits.
“Expanded access to such features will be available for a fee in the future,” the company said, without explaining the price or payment method. Subscription tiers, similar to those used by Anthropic and OpenAI, are one possible model.
That would differ from the L402 and x402 protocols, which are designed to support micropayments per request using bitcoin, crypto or stablecoins. The crypto industry expects such payments could become standard for AI agents because traditional payment systems are not designed for micropayments.
Apple is removing physical SIM cards from its latest devices. The iPhone Duo will be eSIM-only worldwide, while eSIM-only versions of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will be sold in several markets, including the US.
SIM swaps have been linked to crypto thefts, with attackers persuading mobile operators to transfer a victim’s number and then using SMS codes to reset email or exchange passwords. However, cybersecurity experts dispute whether eSIMs are inherently safer.
“An eSIM is physically more secure, but it does not inherently protect you from a remote SIM swap attack. The vulnerability lies with the carrier’s human and procedural authentication process, not the form factor of the SIM,” Deepstrike said.
With iOS 27, Apple will introduce iPhone Handoff in the US and Germany, allowing one number to operate across two iPhones. The Duo will also replace Face ID with Touch ID in its side button, bringing different security advantages and risks.
Apple has not embraced blockchain technology, but its latest products address several problems that crypto assets and public networks are also designed to solve. Those technologies could still offer Apple ways to improve its services, although whether the company takes that route remains uncertain.
