Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone Driver's License Support Coming to Illinois

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,548
37,904


iPhone users from Illinois will soon be able to add their driver's licenses and IDs to the Apple Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch, the Illinois Secretary of State announced today [PDF].

illinois-digital-id.jpg

An Illinois state law that went into effect on January 1 legalizes mobile IDs and allows places of business to accept digital driver's licenses in lieu of physical licenses.

As of right now, Illinois does not have a mobile license program, and the state is in the beginning process of developing digital driver's licenses. The Secretary of State plans to establish standards of security and conduct "rigorous testing" to make sure data from Illinois residents is kept private. Illinois is aiming to bring driver's licenses and IDs to Apple Wallet by the end of 2025, but that may be ambitious with nothing in place just yet.

Like in other states that have adopted Wallet integration for digital IDs, mobile IDs will be a companion to physical IDs instead of a replacement. Banks, police, and more can still ask for a physical ID.

Select airports in the United States accept digital licenses in the Wallet app instead of requiring a physical version.

Apple first announced Wallet support for digital IDs in 2022, and states have been slowly adopting the feature since then. So far, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Hawaii, California, Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico have implemented support.

In addition to Illinois, Connecticut, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah, Montana, and West Virginia are working to implement the feature.

Article Link: iPhone Driver's License Support Coming to Illinois
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/01/13/iphone-drivers-license-support-illinois/
  • Like
Reactions: Butler Trumpet, sydneysider88, JapanApple and 1 other person
that dude aint 120lbs. the inconsistency with Digital IDs be it at airports or anywhere I just bizarre. we had a whole press conference here a few years back how we have digital id and accept it at all TSA checkpoints, it either NEVER worked or TSA was too incompetent to allow anyone to use it. on top of that the state has its OWN App with digital ID/License, making it even more confusing. theyre also notoriously slow and bad at approving the digital ids when adding them to Apple Wallet.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: spartan1967, dustin.haley and AstonSmith
I know I'm getting old ... but I really *do* get the "not handing my phone to a cop" thing, regardless of the details about unlocking it first and what they're allowed to do/not do with one in their hands.

The REAL point here is; your phone is a multi-purpose electronic device that might stop working properly at any time, due to it getting accidentally dropped or the battery running out or just component failure. A physical drivers' license or credit/debit card won't suffer from any of these potential problems.

Would I add my drivers' license to my iPhone when IL finally gets this implemented? Sure, probably will, just because I can and it's offered... But I'll keep carrying the physical license and imagine that's the one I'd keep pulling out to show people, 9 times out of 10. Why hand a near $1000 device to a person when a piece of printed plastic will do?
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Haha
Reactions: chetzar, Student of Life, spartan1967 and 6 others
I have had my digital CA driver license for a while and not a single place has ever accepted it. Not TSA at the airport, not at the market while buying beer, not renting a car, not checking into a hotel, not the Apple store to pickup my iPhone, not the bank to make withdrawal.

It is a good idea but in practice it is currently useless.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Will.O.Bie, bhodinut, Student of Life and 3 others
kingtj1971 said:
Would I add my drivers' license to my iPhone when IL finally gets this implemented? Sure, probably will, just because I can and it's offered... But I'll keep carrying the physical license and imagine that's the one I'd keep pulling out to show people, 9 times out of 10. Why hand a near $1000 device to a person when a piece of printed plastic will do?
Click to expand...
This makes perfect sense because you can also lose your physical license and the digital version makes a perfect backup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: spartan1967 and dustin.haley
kingtj1971 said:
I know I'm getting old ... but I really *do* get the "not handing my phone to a cop" thing, regardless of the details about unlocking it first and what they're allowed to do/not do with one in their hands.

[...}

Why hand a near $1000 device to a person when a piece of printed plastic will do?
Click to expand...
It helps to learn about the this first...

You don't hand over anything with mDL and you don't have to unlock your device to use it. It works like Apple Pay. When this gets fully implemented, you'll have privacy protection when using mDL over a physical license when it comes to retailers and such because you don't have to provide them all of your data and can just send them "Over 21" if needed.

You can keep your physical ID as backup in case something happens to your mDL, but it's worth noting that with mDL, it can be on multiple devices and as you've pointed out, those devices are important... you're less likely to forget your phone, watch, etc... If they're lost or stolen, you can get your mDL downloaded on new devices, which can really help when traveling (as opposed to losing a physical ID when traveling).

Also, battery life isn't an issue because mDL can be available when your device has "shut down" (actually sleeps) when the battery is low.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: -DMN-, Permanent Sigh, dustin.haley and 2 others
The digital doesn't get you much at all. It's good in a pinch if you get stopped and don't have your wallet. But you still need the physical card to fly and to buy liquor (at least this is the case in California).
 
  • Like
Reactions: spartan1967 and Chuckeee
The use case I would LIKE to enable is to just grab my phone, drive somewhere and buy something. For now though I need to always carry a license on the very slim chance that I am pulled over or involved in a car accident. In other words, I am obligated to keep carrying my physical wallet due to this police requirement. In my opinion the digital wallet will only truly replace the physical wallet when I can drive using a digital license.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tk421
The Illinois legislation contains the same requirement as the other states who have implemented this. Authorities have the right to request your physical ID or Drivers License. So you will not be able to leave your physical card behind and will still have to have it on your person just in case. Why even do it then?

My bank wants to see my ID when I make certain cash withdrawals or want make changes to my accounts. Will the bank accept my digital ID? Who knows...
 
  • Like
Reactions: spartan1967 and iisdan
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back