Californians Get Apple Wallet Driver’s Licenses This Year

My family has a saying that whenever we go to a foreign country, we must have “keys, wallet, and phone.” It helps to remind us of the basics that should be on hand before the door is locked out. If you’re in California, you can look forward to narrowing down the list to two simple things: keys and a phone. The leak reveals that California digital driver’s licenses and identification cards are coming to Apple Wallet.

The revelation comes from a silent landing page for the California Department of Motor Vehicles cited on the official Apple Wallet Wikipedia page, first reported by MacRumors on Monday. California is listed on the Apple Wallet Wikipedia page as a “future state.” There’s a link to the page if you want to see it for yourself, but it’s missing important assets like helper videos and images, suggesting it’s not yet ready for public use.

If you live in California, you can use the official DMV app to keep that information. However, once this feature goes live, all you’ll need is Apple Wallet. It will make it easy to do many things between iPhone and Apple Watch when you need to present it, like in an airport security line or as an encrypted link to someone. It also reduces the risk of leaving it behind at the bar or grocery store.

When Apple announced digital ID cards in 2021, there were eight states, though only three followed suit. Five states in the US currently offer an embedded version of this handy feature. Arizona, Maryland, and Colorado were first mentioned when the power was introduced in 2021, but it took until 2022 before it was fully implemented. Georgia later joined the bandwagon in 2023, and the state of Ohio joined last week.

California’s adoption of digital licenses and identification cards is good news for the ability to distribute nationwide. Sadly, you’ll still have to carry your car keys with you unless you’re one of the newly discovered few people with luxury cars embedded with ultra broadband for remote unlocking.