BMW has announced future plans to launch Digital Key Plus, an enhanced version of Apple’s Car Keys feature that incorporates Ultra Wideband technology, allowing drivers to unlock and start their vehicles without having to take their iPhone out of their pocket or purse. BMW says the feature will be launched for the first time in its new electric vehicle iX, scheduled to launch in late 2021 in Europe and North America in early 2022.
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Apple introduced support for digital car keys on iOS 13.6 and later last year, and BMW was the first and so far the only automaker to launch the feature, starting with the 2021 Series 5 and later for a wider range of BMW models manufactured after July 1, 2020. BMW’s current Digital Key feature is based on NFC technology and requires drivers to hold the iPhone close to the driver’s door to unlock the vehicle.
Ultra Wideband is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless communication protocol with accurate spatial perception, which means that an iPhone only needs to be close to the vehicle to unlock and start it. BMW claims that the accuracy of the Ultra Wideband also ensures that retransmission attacks, where the radio signal is blocked or intercepted, are not possible.
Apple began launching Ultra Wideband support for some of its devices in 2019 with the U1 chip in the iPhone 11 models, followed by the iPhone 12 models last year. The Apple Watch Series 6 models are also equipped with a U1 chip and, given that the main feature of the Apple car is available on watchOS 6.2.8 and later, BMW’s Digital Key Plus feature can extend to the Apple Watch.
As announced last year, the BMW press release confirms that Apple and BMW have been working closely with the Car Connectivity Consortium to establish the Digital Key 3.0 specification with Ultra Wideband, providing a global standard for the automotive industry.
In related news, Korea business Today, Hyundai plans to adopt the key feature of Apple’s digital car later this year, but the report does not indicate whether Hyundai plans to launch the NFC or Ultra Wideband version of the feature. Similar to credit cards and boarding passes, digital car keys are stored in the Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch.
(Thanks, Luke!)