All the states that will let you upload your driver's license to Apple Wallet

CNET ^ | Erin Carson

[BenLurkin]

In Apple's vision of the future, you and I would leave our homes without physical wallets. Instead we'd walk out the front door carrying only the virtual wallets stored on our iPhones. We wouldn't bring keys, either.

That hope for the future is creeping into the present as Apple unveiled that you can now upload your driver's license to Apple Wallet in select states across the US. Arizona and Georgia will be the first to access the driver's license feature, followed by Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah.

The feature was announced at WWDC earlier this year. It came alongside other Apple Wallet updates that allow your iPhone to hold digital versions of your house keys, hotel room keys and workplace IDs. All these changes are expected to come with iOS 15, which is said to roll out sometime in the fall. (Here's how to download the public beta version now.)

Digitizing your driver's license and other ID cards isn't a new idea. Google and chipmaker Qualcomm announced their project to store a digital driver's license in Android phones way back in 2019 -- but it appears that iPhones will begin using the new feature first. Security and privacy issues are the biggest roadblocks and areas of highest concern. Apple says it secures your IDs with the same technology and encryption backing your credit cards in Apple Pay.

Once you set up your driver's license and other ID cards in the iPhone, you'll be able to present your identification on your iPhone or Apple Watch at airport security (yes, it'll be supported by the TSA on a state-by-state basis) and any other business that accepts the new technology as proof of ID.

[Crusher138]

Then you drop your phone and it breaks or gets lost so now you have no ID, no money, no way to get into your own home, etc. etc. No thanks.

Or you could lose your wallet or your keys.

Say you are traveling and get pickpocketed. If they take your wallet, they have your ID, credit cards, cash, etc. If they take your phone, they are carrying a device that can be used to track their location. If you were a thief, which would you want to steal?