German luxury carmaker, BMW will soon become the first automaker to enable its customers to use iPhone as a fully digital car key. BMW will be the first to introduce support for BMW Digital Key (aka as Apple CarKey) stored securely in Apple Wallet for iPhone.
This BMW Digital Key for the iPhone will enable customers to just tap to unlock and easily get going by placing the iPhone in the smartphone tray and pushing the start button. Setup of the Digital Key can be done through the BMW Smartphone App. The car owner can also share access with up to 5 friends including a configurable car access option for young drivers which restrict top speed, horse power, maximum radio volume and more. Management of access can be done from inside the car as well as through Apple Wallet.
Adding to it, the new Digital Key features include storage in the secure element of your iPhone and access through Apple Wallet, Power reserve for iPhone where car keys will still function for up to five hours if the iPhone turns off due to low battery, access can be shared with up to 5 friends via iMessage and Apple Watch compatibility.
The Apple CarKey will be available in BMW’s 45 countries and will be available in modes including 1 Series, 2 Series, 3 Series, 4 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, 8 Series, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4 if manufactured after July 1st 2020. Compatible iPhone models will be iPhone XR, iPhone XS or newer and Apple Watch Series 5 or newer.
