BMW announces Digital Key Plus, a keyless access system that uses the UWB chip in iPhones to let users unlock select BMW cars without taking out their phones
Using the ultra wideband chip that debuted in the iPhone 11 — BMW has announced an upgraded version of its mobile car key technology dubbed Digital Key Plus.
Context & Ripple Effects
BMW's Digital Key Plus is the payoff to a three-year standardization arc: the cross-industry consortium behind Digital Key Release 1.0 defined NFC-based phone-as-key back in 2018, and Apple's U1 ultra wideband chip in the iPhone 11 added the precise ranging needed for passive, pocket-stays-closed entry. BMW is the first mover turning that hardware into a shipping feature on select models.
First-order effects
- Owners of select BMWs with compatible iPhones gain passive unlock without taking the phone out — a convenience upgrade over the tap-to-unlock NFC flow the 2018 standard specified.
- BMW gets a concrete software differentiator at the door handle, tied to hardware only recent iPhones carry.
Second-order effects
- Google's answer — a digital car key feature for Android 12 announced months later — shows the competitive dynamic: no major OS can leave car access to the other ecosystem, forcing automakers to support both stacks.
- Rival automakers now face a hardware decision: adding UWB anchors to vehicles to match BMW's passive-entry experience, or staying on cheaper NFC and accepting a tiered feature set.
Third-order effects
- Car access is consolidating around phone-maker-controlled standards, where Apple and Google decide which handsets and radios qualify — shifting leverage from automakers to platform gatekeepers over a function cars have owned for a century.
- Apple's later unlisted Car Key Tests app signals manufacturers are still working through integration years on, suggesting the transition from physical keys will be slow and standards-governed rather than a quick swap.
The trend: Vehicle access is migrating from manufacturer-owned keys to phone-platform-controlled digital credentials, with UWB precision entry as the new premium tier.