Your Driver’s License Is Now in Apple Wallet in 14 States, With Six More Signed Up

Drivers in a growing number of states can now carry their license on their iPhone. As of mid-2026, the option to add a driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet is live in 14 states and Puerto Rico, with six more states signed up to follow. The digital version can already speed you through airport security at more than 250 checkpoints. But there is an important catch that every driver needs to understand: a license in your phone does not yet replace the plastic card you are required to carry when you drive. Here is where it works, how to set it up, and where the limits still apply.

The rollout has been gradual and state by state, because each state has to build and approve the system with Apple. That means the experience depends heavily on where you live, and two of the largest states are not yet on the list. Knowing the current status keeps you from assuming a feature your state has not turned on.

Where It Works Now and What Is Coming

The states that currently support a driver’s license or state ID in Apple Wallet, with the month each launched, are Arizona (March 2022), Maryland (May 2022), Colorado (November 2022), Georgia (May 2023), Ohio (July 2024), Hawaii (August 2024), California (September 2024), Iowa (October 2024), New Mexico (December 2024), Montana (August 2025), North Dakota (September 2025), West Virginia (October 2025), Illinois (November 2025) and Arkansas (May 2026). The feature is also available in Puerto Rico.

Six more states have committed to adding the feature: Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia, with Virginia expected to be next in line as the 15th state. No firm dates have been announced for the others. Notably for the two most populous states after California, neither Texas nor New York currently supports an Apple Wallet license. If you live there, the digital license is not yet an option regardless of what your iPhone can otherwise do.

Apple has also introduced a separate Digital ID for people who do not have a state that participates or who lack a REAL ID-compliant card. That Digital ID is built from a U.S. passport and can be presented at the same participating TSA checkpoints for age and identity verification during domestic travel, though it is not a driver’s license and does not authorize driving.

How to Add Your License and Use It

If you live in a participating state, setup happens in the Wallet app on your iPhone. You tap the add button, choose Driver’s License or State ID, select your state, then scan the front and back of your physical card. The setup also asks you to take a photo of your face and complete a series of head and facial movements so the state can confirm the phone is being added by the real cardholder. Once your state approves the submission, the credential appears in Wallet, and it can also sync to a paired Apple Watch.

Using it is designed to be quick. At a TSA checkpoint in a participating airport, you tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on an identity reader, then approve the request with Face ID or Touch ID. The reader requests only the specific information needed, such as your age or identity, and you confirm before anything is shared. Apple Wallet IDs are accepted at TSA checkpoints in more than 250 airports for domestic travel. Recent additions to the feature have come to states including Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia, and the list continues to grow.

The Catch: You Still Need the Physical Card

This is the part that trips people up. A license in Apple Wallet is an accepted form of identification in specific settings, chiefly airport security and some age checks. It is not a legal substitute for your physical driver’s license when you are driving. If you are pulled over, you are still required to produce your physical card, and you should not assume an officer will accept a phone in its place. Leaving the plastic card at home because it is on your iPhone can land you in the same position as driving without a license on you.

The simple rule is to treat the digital license as a convenient extra, not a replacement. Keep the physical card in your wallet exactly as before. The digital version saves time at the airport and gives you a backup if you forget your wallet, but the law governing what you must carry behind the wheel has not changed because the credential now lives on a screen.

It is also worth remembering that REAL ID rules still apply to flying. Federal enforcement of REAL ID is already in effect for domestic air travel, and a participating Apple Wallet ID or a Digital ID built from a passport is one way to satisfy identity checks. None of that removes the need for a compliant physical credential in the many situations a phone is not accepted.

Privacy and What to Know Before You Rely on It

Apple designed the feature so you do not hand your unlocked phone to anyone. When an identity reader requests information, you see exactly what is being asked for and approve it with Face ID or Touch ID, and the device does not need to leave your hand. That is a privacy improvement over passing a physical card to a stranger who can read every detail on it, including your home address.

Before you depend on a digital license, keep a few practical points in mind. Battery life is one, because a dead phone is a phone with no ID, so do not let the digital version become your only plan at the airport. Acceptance outside TSA checkpoints is still limited and varies by location and by business. And the feature is tied to your device and your Apple account, so set up a passcode and Find My in case the phone is lost. Used well, the Apple Wallet license is a real convenience. Used as a complete replacement for the card in your pocket, it can cause more problems than it solves. For more on the shift toward digital credentials, see our coverage of the rule changes facing 2026 drivers.

Sources:

• https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/11/apple-introduces-digital-id-a-new-way-to-create-and-present-an-id-in-apple-wallet/
• https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/29/apple-wallet-ids-coming-to-15th-state/
• https://9to5mac.com/2026/05/29/apple-wallet-drivers-license-support-expanding-to-virginia/
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/111803