They could do the same with current licenses, either temporarily or permanently. When I was in my 20's I had a stack of old but unexpired drivers licenses because having your current address on your license makes makes some things easier.
It also wasn’t that long ago the photo-less driver licenses were phased out in some states. My father had one with no photo on it up until 2004. Anyone could renew by mail, in which case there would not be a photo.
as someone else is already saying -- Arizona basically already has this for DMVs. There's a parallel system of privately owned and operated offices where you can make an appointment to e.g. get your drivers license. You show up right around your appointment time, there's somebody ready to help you within minutes, and everything is streamlined / easy. Most pleasant experience I've ever had of getting a license in a new state. In that case it was never clear to me whether I paid extra for the private service or not, but whatever I paid seemed unremarkable.
> they're deterministically generated from basic personal information
This used to be true, including in my state (Washington), but as of the last few years, I believe all states upon renewal of licenses now give you a non-deterministic license number.
I can't imagine there is any state that lacks the option to update the address on your license after you move. Many will even send a sticker in the mail so you don't have to get a new card.
It would still be a lot more convenient to know that your documents have been accepted before you have to physically go to the DMV.
I've gotten real id licenses in multiple states as a result of moving, and it's incredibly annoying because you never know what documents they'll actually accept. You basically have to bring tons of extra documents in case they randomly don't like the way one of your documents looks (e.g. one state inexplicably didn't want to accept my birth certificate because it had an official seal on it). Otherwise you could end up having to make another trip (which could be even more of a headache if you're trying to reregister your car and are signing up for new insurance, in which case there may be a deadline).
My license dropped out of my pocket when I was visiting a friend in a town 2 hours drive away. Didn't even notice until I got home. 3 weeks later it shows up in the mail. A stranger went through all that trouble to mail it back to me.
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