Apple Pay was down — live updates on the outage
People struggled to use Apple Pay
The Apple Pay outage starts
At a little before 11:30 a.m. ET, users started reporting issues with Apple Pay on Down Detector. It started with around 1,000 reports and quickly jumped to more than 2,400. This is a clear indication that something is wrong with Apple Pay.
Based on user comments, it seems focused on paying with the service and filling prepaid cards, but we'll dig in more to find out what other kinds of issues users are dealing with.
All systems normal
Apple still says all systems are standard, as Down Detector reports continue to rise. Hopefully, if something is wrong with Apple Pay, the company will get out in front of it and let us know what's going on.
Similar to massive Zelle outage
At the start of May, the digital payment service Zelle went down for several hours.
That outage was caused by a problem with Fiserv, a third party payment infrastructure provider. From what I can tell Apple does not use Fiserv and seems to have its own infrastructure set up internally and with other companies.
Still, with people likely getting paid today or trying to make payments, Apple Pay being down heading into the weekend is a major annoyance.
Apple Status Page update
The issues affecting Apple Pay have been going on since about 8:00 a.m Pacific.
Just recently, the Apple status page is finally acknowledging the issues.
Right now, it shows issues with Apple Card, Cash, Pay and Wallet.
However, it only says that "some users may be experiencing issues with this service."
We have reached out to Apple for more information on the outage and will update our coverage once we receive a response.
Steady stream of reports
While it looks like reports are in decline on Down Detector, the Apple status page still reads yellow for the various Apple payment apps.
Outside of DD, a steady stream of reports are flowing in on social media sites like X and Bluesky, as well as on select subreddits.
Most complaints are that they can't use Apple Pay, a surprising amount talking about not being able to use Uber or Lyft since their accounts are tied to Apple Pay.
A good reminder to diversify payment options and to always keep at least a $20 in your wallet.
Two issues resolved
Apple Pay may still be having problems for some people but Apple says that its resolved problems with Apple Card and Apple Cash.
Apple Pay and Wallet are still listed as having ongoing problems.
What the fix implemented was or what caused problems in the first place have not been shared.
Over on Down Detector, reports have dropped to under 400 and I am seeing some claims on social media that Apple Pay is working for some people now.
Apple Pay outage in stasis
Down Detector is great for a general sense of an outage starting or continuing. But endings can get a bit muddled.
Right now, the reports there are under 200. Meanwhile, we're still seeing Apple Pay complaints on social media and the official status page still shows issues with Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
So, the outage is not quite over but it's also hard to tell how many people are still seeing problems. Especially since other people across social media are saying that they've been able to access Apple Pay.
Either way, this outage has appeared to last for at least two hours.
As of this writing, Apple has not responded to requests for comment.
All issues resolved
Apple's official status page just updated saying that Apple Pay and Apple Wallet are back up.
Like Card and Cash, the update simply says that it has "resolved issue" and the some users were affected.
And that's about it for official comment from Apple.
Social media reports have declined, though there are still people popping up saying their accounts aren't working and Down Detector is largely over.
