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 upgrade builds on the industry consortium’s NFC digital-key standard and Apple’s earlier CarKey API for iPhone and Apple Watch. It moves BMW’s implementation from a phone-mediated key toward proximity-based access using the iPhone’s UWB hardware.
The related coverage also shows Apple later providing manufacturers a dedicated Car Key integration testing app, indicating that vehicle compatibility depends on ongoing coordination with the phone platform rather than on a carmaker’s app alone.
First-order effects
- Owners of select BMW vehicles with compatible iPhones can unlock their cars without removing the phone, making UWB hardware part of BMW’s access experience.
- BMW ties Digital Key Plus compatibility directly to Apple’s iPhone ecosystem and its Car Key integration path.
Second-order effects
- Google’s stated work on an Android digital car key puts pressure on automakers to support comparable access experiences across both major mobile platforms.
- BMW and other manufacturers must treat mobile-key integration and testing as a product requirement alongside the vehicle hardware, rather than as a standalone NFC feature.
Third-order effects
- Digital car keys are progressing from a shared NFC baseline toward phone-platform-specific proximity features, increasing the importance of Apple and Google in the in-car access stack.
- If UWB-based access spreads across more vehicles and phones, carmakers’ differentiation will depend increasingly on interoperable platform integrations rather than the physical key alone.
The trend: Vehicle access is becoming a smartphone-platform service, with UWB extending digital keys from tap-to-unlock credentials to proximity-based experiences.