Apple Announced in September that the scheme would allow users of eight US states to store state IDs and driver’s licenses inside the Apple Wallet app on their iPhone.
The delay follows Apple’s announcement it was looking for “sole control” over how states rolled out the feature.
Conflicting information
The delay was first noticed through an update to Apple’s iOS 15 page by technology website MacRumors. Apple has not provided a specific release date for the feature beyond the early 2022 timeframe. And there is conflicting information on the company’s site, with the software’s All-New Features page still stating the ID feature is coming in “late 2021”.
BBC News has asked Apple for a comment.
Privacy concerns
Arizona and Georgia will launch the system first, with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah also signed up.
Apple has said it is in discussions with other US states – reportedly including Florida – as it works to offer the feature, announced at a presentation in June, nationwide in the future.
Apple says that the “first locations” to use the system will be airport-security checkpoints run by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Some users had expressed privacy concerns about handing over smartphones to police or security officials.
And Apple now says users do not need to unlock or hand over their phones for the system to work for airport security.
