Apple has delayed one of the most anticipated iOS 15 and watchOS 8 features. If you were looking forward to using your phone as your driver's license, you're going to have to wait until early 2022.
Initially, Apple intended to launch the driver's license in Wallet feature at the end of 2021, which meant it would have launched relatively soon. However, the company quietly updated its iOS 15 website (as spotted by MacRumors) with a new early 2022 release window.
Apple said that the feature would roll out in Arizona and Georgia first, with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah shortly after. After moving the release window back to early 2022, it's unclear if all of those states will get the feature simultaneously or if it'll still have the same staggered rollout.
Unfortunately, Apple didn't get more specific with the release date, keeping it vague with the early 2022 window. The feature is not enabled in the latest iOS 15.2 beta, so it doesn't seem like the company has it ready for testing, either.
As far as how we'd use the feature, Apple said TSA checkpoints in select U.S. airports would be first, with other places to follow. The company put a strong emphasis on security with the new feature, so perhaps it needed to delay it to further lock down the implementation in Wallet properly.