Quote:
Originally Posted by TomWinMD
Up front, I'll acknowledge that I'm not an expert on the technology.
BMW's own marketing material states that "The following devices are compatible with BMW Digital Key: iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation) and Apple Watch Series 5. BMW Digital Key will require the upcoming iOS 13.6 and WatchOS 6.2.8."
It reads (and yes it's marketing material and could be wrong) as if you need the correct hardware and iOS version to use the feature.
https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/bm...w-car-key.html
I did a search for a list of iPhones compatible with CarKey, and Apple doesn't seem to provide one, nor does one appear in their support forums.
The 9-to-5 website believes, based on the availability of NFC in iPhone 7 and up, that CarKey should be compatible with those phones, but that's all. (An article from 5 Feb 2020 - https://9to5mac.com/2020/02/05/new-c...-nfc-car-keys/)
I've got a MY2021 M550 in the production queue now, so I'll hit up my CA and see what he knows about it, but I'm guessing that for the moment he'll only have the marketing material to reference. |
Though the iPhone 7 & up have NFC, there have been hardware changes over the years, perhaps not on the NFC side but definitely on the bluetooth side. If the desire is to use bluetooth low energy (BTLE), then it's very possible that older devices simply cannot support it. They would only support say, version 1.0, which may not be secure enough for Apple to say OK. Or it's just get a new phone with your fancy BMW.