Apple CarKey Feature Said to Expand Beyond BMW to Hyundai

Apple’s CarKey feature lets iPhone users turn their devices and Apple Watches into keys for their car, leveraging NFC. So far, only select cars from BMW support CarKey, but that appears to be changing.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shared more details in his weekly Power On newsletter yesterday, Apple’s CarKey feature is set to expand to Hyundai and select cars from the latter’s premium Genesis line.

“I’m told that’s going to change soon,” said Gurman, adding, “in line with code findings several months ago in iOS 15, I’m hearing that the next cars to get support for the feature will be models from Hyundai and its Genesis line. I’m told the functionality will roll out by the summer.”

Apple unveiled its CarKey feature at WWDC 2020 and we could hear about the feature’s expansion at WWDC in 2022.

BMW says its Digital Key is compatible with iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max or later and Apple Watch Series 5 or later. BMW Digital Key requires at least iOS 13.6 and watchOS 6.2.8 or later and can only be used with Teleservices (SA 6AE) and Comfort Access (SA 322 or SA 3DK).

BMW Digital Key Plus is compatible with iPhone and Apple Watch devices with Apple’s U1 chip. Your iPhone requires iOS 15, and your Apple Watch requires watchOS 8 or later, says BMW.

Last year, Apple and Hyundai were rumoured to work together for the iPhone’s maker’s car project, but that never materialized.