You Can Now Use Apple Pay on your PS5
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Apple’s contactless and in-app payment systems have traditionally been limited to Apple devices. However, Apple began to shake that up last year when it brought Apple Pay support to all browsers. Now, Sony is leveraging this new capability to introduce Apple Pay as a payment option for PlayStation 5 users.
As reported by 9to5Mac, the PlayStation Store checkout on the PS5 will now show an option to make a purchase using Apple Pay. This isn’t quite as seamless as it is on a Mac or Apple TV, as not only will you still need to authorize the transaction using an Apple device, but you’ll also be required to scan a code from your TV screen using your iPhone (or iPad) camera.
Once you do that, a standard Apple Pay checkout sheet will pop up on your iPhone or iPad, just like it does for any other purchase, and you can then complete the process by selecting a card and authenticating it with Face ID or Touch ID.
It doesn’t look like Sony has worked any special magic with Apple here, as the feature works much like it does when using a third-party web browser. When Apple showed off the new capabilities at least year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple Pay engineers demonstrated how other browsers like Chrome or Firefox would present a scannable code to trigger Apple Pay on an iPhone or iPad.
This differs from using Apple Pay in Safari, where Touch ID can authenticate the transaction directly on compatible Macs or via a prompt that automatically appears on the user’s paired devices — including an Apple Watch.
By contrast, the PS5 method only works with an iPhone or iPad since an Apple Watch doesn’t have a camera that can scan the code (at least not yet)
Apple Pay’s broader browser support isn’t automatic; even web stores that already offer Apple Pay in Safari must update their code to support the new feature before Apple Pay appears as an option in other browsers. Sony is undoubtedly using the same code available for triggering Apple Pay in these third-party web browsers, as the PS5 store app is essentially a specialized web browser under the hood.
While it’s cool to have Apple Pay as a supported option, the extra step of reaching for your iPhone and opening the Camera app makes it considerably more awkward than just keeping your card stored on your PlayStation account. The upside is that Apple Pay is more secure, and if you’re an Apple Card holder, it will also let you collect 2% Daily Cash back on your PS5 purchases instead of the 1% you’d get from simply punching in the card number. This will also allow you to pay using Apple Cash without generating a Virtual Card Number.
The feature requires an iPhone or iPad running iOS/iPadOS 18 or later. For PlayStation users, it’s now available on the PS5 and is expected to be released on the PS4 in a forthcoming software update.
