Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Apple’s digital driver’s license drives slowly into Maryland

Apple has now made support for digital driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet available in Maryland, just under a year after initially announcing the first few states it would be coming to. The Wallet app update launched in Arizona earlier this year, with Connecticut, Iowa, Oklahoma, Utah, Kentucky, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Ohio, and the territory of Puerto Rico expected to follow in the coming months.

Digital driver’s licenses are an effort to turn the Apple Wallet into a true wallet replacement. Rather than simply store just your payment cards, it has now been updated to work with state IDs and driver’s licenses. You’ll now be able to use your Apple Watch or iPhone to identify yourself without leaving your physical ID card at risk of being stolen. The rollout has been slow, however. Apple needs to work with individual states to bring it online, hence the crawling pace. Arizona was the first, and Maryland is the latest so far.

“The addition of driver’s licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet is an important step in our vision of replacing the physical wallet with a secure and easy-to-use mobile wallet,” Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet said. “We are excited that the TSA and so many states are already on board to help bring this to life for travelers across the country using only their iPhone and Apple Watch, and we are already in discussions with many more states as we’re working to offer this nationwide in the future.”

Adding it to your Apple Wallet is fairly easy, and you won’t have to hand over your phone to nosy TSA agents either. Verification is contactless, and your phone doesn’t need to be unlocked for the process. At the same time, this is a new technology, and there are likely to be teething problems.

While Apple is currently the only company to have this kind of service live, Google at I/O 2022 announced plans to integrate digital licenses into the new Google Wallet app as a logical evolution of its mobile wallet concept. There have also been efforts by independent apps like the U.K.’s Yoti to normalize digitized ID services, but a more concentrated push from the juggernauts of Apple and Google in concert with government authorities stands the best chance of working,

Editors' Recommendations

6 years later, the iPhone X still does one thing better than the iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone X.

I’ve been an iPhone user since the very beginning, starting with the original iPhone. You know, the one with the 3.5-inch display that was perfect at the time, making it super easy to use a phone with one hand? As the years go by, the iPhone — and every other smartphone out there — just get bigger and bigger. We now have phones that with almost 7-inch displays, and honestly, I don’t understand how anyone can comfortably use these giant phones — especially if you have smaller hands!

With the iPhone, we’ve gone from 3.5-inch to 4-inches, then 4.7-inches to 5.8-inches, and now the standard 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch of the iPhone 14/iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Plus/iPhone 14 Pro Max, respectively. I personally use an iPhone 14 Pro as my primary device, and while I have gotten used to the 6.1-inch size over the past few years, I still think it’s too big. In fact, the last perfect size iPhone was the iPhone XS with the 5.8-inch display ... and I really wish Apple would bring it back.
5.8 inches was a perfect middle ground

Read more
I love the Galaxy S23 — here are 5 things the iPhone still does better
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 has arrived to the masses, and it’s one of the best Android phones you can get right now, especially the S23 Ultra. However, for those who don’t need all of the fancy bells and whistles, like the S Pen and 200MP main camera, the regular S23 is also plenty powerful for the average person, especially if you prefer smaller devices.

I’ve been using the Galaxy S23 for the past few weeks, and so far, my experience has been delightful. I know that it’s still early on in the year, but for me, the S23’s small size is perfect and comfortable. Android also does a lot of things better than iOS, like individual volume controls and notifications, for example. But I am still primarily using my iPhone 14 Pro — despite Apple having some big flaws, such as overprocessing images after you capture them.

Read more
Google Pixel Fold: release date and price rumors, leaked specs, and more
Alleged schematic of Google's Pixel foldable in silver.

Folding smartphones are a staple of the Android smartphone world in 2023. And this year, we expect Google to join the foldable ranks with the long-awaited Google Pixel Fold.

Rumors of the Pixel Fold have existed for a long time, but all signs are pointing to 2023 finally being the year it makes its grand debut. And what a debut it's shaping up to be. From all of the latest renders, hands-on images, specs, and more, here's everything you need to know about the Google Pixel Fold.
Google Pixel Fold: design

Read more