Whether buying alcohol or passing through TSA airport security, here’s how you’ll use your iPhone and Apple Watch as digital IDs.
Apple has announced the first states which will let users upload their state IDs and driver’s licenses into the Apple Wallet app, allowing them to flash their iPhones or Apple Wallets the next time they need to identify themselves, whether it’s buying alcohol or walking through a TSA airport checkpoint. The feature was first introduced at WWDC 2021, originally as one of many perks coming in iOS 15. But the feature no longer seems tied to the next version of the operating system, which we expect to launch in September – instead, it may be available to most iPhones and Apple Watches (we’ve reached out to Apple to confirm). ID adoption in the Apple Wallet app is rolling out on a state-by-state basis, according to Apple’s official blog post. Folks in Arizona and Georgia will be the first to be able to add their IDs to their iPhones and Apple Watches, followed by Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah, though we don’t have launch dates for any state. Apple also didn’t share when users will be able to use the feature at TSA airport security checkpoints. In addition to visibly displaying your license, like users have done with travel tickets using Apple Wallet, the feature will allow users to simply bring their iPhone or Apple Wallet close to a TSA identity reader and enable the data transfer to wirelessly transfer info, no contact or visible scanning (QR code or otherwise) necessary.
