So long, wallets. In iOS 15, your iPhone will even hold your driver's license
Apple's Wallet app is taking big steps towards replacing your actual wallet. Here's what we heard at WWDC.
Apple's Wallet app will be able to store driver's licenses in iOS 15.
Apple's Wallet app is getting a big upgrade in iOS 15. At Apple's WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple announced that it will be adding support for hotel keys and driver's licenses to help ditch more physical cards. Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Wallet and Apple Pay, says that the company is working with hotel company Hyatt to enable virtual room keys in "over 1,000 properties worldwide" this fall.
The new update also includes the ability to store keys for a home, if you have a smart lock, and corporate badges for entering an office.
While the new features will come in iOS 15, the exact functionality will vary based on your location. The driver's license feature, for example, will allow you to scan your license or state ID into your phone in "participating" US states, as not every state supports virtual identity cards today.
Read more: How Google and Qualcomm are working to bring digital driver's licenses to Android phones
When it's enabled, the new IDs should function the same as a physical ID card. Bailey noted that the TSA is "working to enable airport security checkpoints as the first place you can use your digital ID."
Bailey says that the identity cards are stored in the iPhone and Apple Watch's "secure element," the same hardware it uses for saving credit cards and other sensitive data.