Apple and BMW have announced that the new 5 Series may have the option of using the customer’s iPhone as the car’s key.
It may sound far-fetched, but, is it really? Current top-spec BMW cars have touchscreen key fobs that allow the owner to access a variety of functions including remote control of the car. When you think about that, this announcement from Apple and BMW about using the iPhone as a key is not too hard to digest. What does it mean in the real world? Well, simply put, your iPhone will mimic all the functions of the car’s key fob including unlocking and engine start. By the way, this could be a reality with just a software update.
We are pressed for specific details at the moment but expect to see this feature first on the upcoming 5 Series. For those worried about their car getting stolen due to a data leak from the cloud, Apple and BMW have made it clear that the digital key will be stored locally in the phone itself along with the data for Face ID and Wallet functions, and certainly not on the cloud. Among the list of planned features, there is one that allows the owner to share the car’s digital key with other people using iMessage. Of course, while sharing the key, the owner can impose a lot of restrictions on it including speed limit and radio volume among others.
While this feature is expected to debut with iOS 14, it will be made available for iOS 13 also. A similar function is also available on Android devices for BMW cars and it is called the ‘BMW Digital Key’. Apple also went on to say that they expect other car manufacturers to support this initiative in the future.
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Story: Joshua Varghese
