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IDAHO! Come on already. Oh wait we used our social security numbers as a drivers license number "all the way" back in 2004 so we will probably see it in 2045. UGH!
 
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Just like ApplePay, it will be a phased implementation. A number of states have already enabled digital ID for use with law enforcement. As more people (in each state) get digital IDs, more states will enable their use that way.

Thank you! I don't know why people can't grasp this. Obviously it's new, obviously adoption takes time.
 


There are now 13 states that have added support for storing a driver's license or ID in the Apple Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch, with more to come.

Apple-Wallet-ID-Cards.jpg

States With iPhone Digital ID Support

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Illinois
  • Iowa
  • Maryland
  • Montana
  • New Mexico
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • West Virginia
Arizona, Maryland, and Colorado were some of the first states to add support back in 2022, while Montana, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Illinois just added support this year.

Digital IDs are also able to be added to the Wallet app in Puerto Rico.
States Planning to Add Support

Several states have announced plans to support digital IDs in the Wallet app in the future.
  • Connecticut
  • Kentucky
  • Mississippi
  • Oklahoma
  • Utah
There's no word on when these states plan to add support, nor on other states that have not yet committed to introducing the functionality.

Passport Digital IDs

As of November 2025, Apple is allowing iPhone users to create a Digital ID in the Wallet app using a U.S. passport. iPhone and Apple Watch users who do not live in a state that supports digital IDs and driver's licenses can instead use their passport to create an iPhone ID.

ios-26-digital-id-passport-wallet.jpg


Digital IDs created using a passport work the same way as state IDs and driver's licenses added to the Wallet app.

TSA Support

TSA security checkpoints at most major airports in the United States accept digital IDs in lieu of a physical ID. Digital IDs in the Wallet app can only be used for domestic travel.

Age Verification

State IDs stored in the Wallet app can be used for age verification purposes at businesses and retailers that support the functionality. Apple is also adding support for using IDs for age verification in apps and on websites.

Physical ID Requirements

Most states say that iPhone users are still required to present a physical ID if requested, and a digital ID cannot be used in lieu of an actual ID.

Digital IDs based on a passport cannot be used for international travel or border crossing purposes, so a physical passport is still required.

How to Add an ID

An eligible driver's license, ID, or passport can be added to the Wallet app on iPhone by tapping on the "+" sign in the upper right corner and then choosing the "Driver's License and ID Cards" option.

Device Compatibility

Using the digital ID feature in the Wallet app requires an iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16.5 or later or an Apple Watch Series 4 or later running watchOS 9.5 or later.

Adding a passport requires an iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later or an Apple Watch Series 6 running watchOS 26.1 or later.

Article Link: Here Are All the States That Support Digital Driver's Licenses in the iPhone Wallet App
You forget the Puerto Rico state license support.
 
If I still have to carry my driver's license around it defeats the point of a digital one.
 
If I still have to carry my driver's license around it defeats the point of a digital one.
For a long time one still needed to carry a credit card, but now ApplePay works most everywhere. The best way to ensure rapid adoption of digital licenses being usable everywhere physical ones are, is for people to get digital ones as soon as they can. Since states know how many digital IDs have been issued, they also know when it make the most sense for them to begin accepting them in all places.
 
Just like ApplePay, it will be a phased implementation. A number of states have already enabled digital ID for use with law enforcement. As more people (in each state) get digital IDs, more states will enable their use that way.

But all the states that allow digital IDs still require you carry a physical ID….so again what is the point? Currently, you can not legally drive without a physical ID in any state in the USA…


For the millionth time, one does not hand over one’s phone, one taps it while it is still locked against a reader, just like one does with Apple Pay. Your example shows why your concern is completely misplaced. Police did that with no valid reason, and if they are violating the law, do not care if you offer to scan your device but would just demand it if they wanted it.

For the millionth time, police routinely ask that you hand over your phone when you use it to present a digital ID or proof of insurance. Why put yourself in that position?

And you are wrong, the police rarely demand your phone for a routine traffic stop when you are presenting physical documents.
 
No they don't. It should be a very common sense conclusion to assume that once adoption is more widespread it'll mean less physical cards we need to carry with us.

OK. If and when this gets adopted as you envision, than we can talk.

The rest of us on this forum are talking about the reality of today. Not a hypothetical future scenario.
 
It'd be nice to have the US passport feature be available for those of us living overseas. I get that it doesn't replace physical passports for international travel, but ID's have uses other than just travel.
If the new passport feature makes buying an esim easier (at least in Thailand) it will all have been worth it.
 
How does that work? The Customs Officer stamps your iPhone when you cross the boarder? No wonder the rest of the world won't accept digital Passports.
Entering Malaysia recently I noticed a complete lack of immigration officers. At a turnstile the passport photo page gets scanned, a picture gets taken, then the gate opens.
 
But all the states that allow digital IDs still require you carry a physical ID….so again what is the point? Currently, you can not legally drive without a physical ID in any state in the USA…

Digital licenses in Georgia and Wyoming both work in place of physical licenses. As more people and state get digital licenses, more states will enable their use in place of a physical license. Just like with Apple Pay, the faster people adopt these licenses, the faster we get to a point where they completely replace them. However, the bigger question is, given how easy it is to do, why would one not do it? At worst it took a minute or two to add, and one never uses it, at best it makes it so that one can do age verification without needing to hand a clerk/bouncer all one’s personal information.

Finally, my Apple Watch is way more convenient to present than either my physical license or my phone.

For the millionth time, police routinely ask that you hand over your phone when you use it to present a digital ID or proof of insurance. Why put yourself in that position?

Do you have some source for that statistic? Do you have evidence that they take the phone and search it without the driver’s consent? However, as there is no accepted digital form of proof of insurance, it would not surprise me if they took a phone in order to copy the data from one’s insurance card. Moving to digital IDs will make it easier to support a standard digital proof of insurance that would make that moot as well.

As I noted above, I use my Apple Watch for these things and so would never be handing anyone anything.

And you are wrong, the police rarely demand your phone for a routine traffic stop when you are presenting physical documents.


Almost every state that has authorized digital licenses has prohibited the law enforcement officers from taking possession of the phone and makes it clear that presenting the digital device to a reader does not grant the officers consent to search the device. For example here is the text from Wyoming’s Statute:

 
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OK. If and when this gets adopted as you envision, than we can talk.

The rest of us on this forum are talking about the reality of today. Not a hypothetical future scenario.
Did you post the same thing about enrolling your credit cards in Apple Pay?

“Why do it when I still have to carry a physical card for the places that do not take it?”

This already provides benefits in many locations (including over 250 airports in the U.S.) and many clubs/stadia/liquor stores where one gets the additional benefit of not need to provide any information other than proof that one is of legal age.
 
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