Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Audi A6 Avant e-tron Supports Apple Car Keys, Porsche Likely to Follow
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You can set a trusted contact to help you recover your account. If you haven't yet, do it now.
My car has keyless entry. I just touch the door handle and it opens. Couldn’t be easier. Why bother opening your phone to do it.
If the car supports Car Keys with UWB, then your phone acts as the key fob in your pocket that allows keyless entry.
Yes someone else corrected that part in the thread - sounds much better with UWB, that's exactly how you want it to work.
I'd like this to be on the next EV I buy eventually.
The key will still work for awhile in the mode iPhones enter before the battery is fully expired but no longer can run the full OS. All the express mode cards still function in that state. I believe it says so on the red battery screen.
I understand the hesitancy though. I carry my physical digital key card BMW provides in my wallet and I do not go on trips without the fob.
Is this accurate? End of last year I bought a used BMW produced in May 2021, which supports Apple Car Key fully and perfectly.
It's really a nice feature - e.g. when I use the car to reach a certain location to go for a run, I don't have to take my car keys with me - the iPhone and Apple Watch are completely sufficient to lock / unlock the car and activate its driving mode.
That’s why everyone who prefer an all-Infos-in-one-device should have a second as backup.
For example an iPad, or better a Mac.
And identification documents shouldn’t be in the phone alone.
Let's not forget the side benefit of not being able to leave your phone behind at a restaurant!
This is exactly what I do on vacations.
This is a bigger concern than losing phone and not having the key with you for the car.
If that happens, you can just take an uber home and get your fob. If I was going out of town, I’d definitely take my fob ; but for short trips near home having this feature would be great.
The linked site doesn't even have any 2025 models on it yet. It's like Apple forgot this feature (or at least their documentation) existed.
Yet Toyota went the Tesla route, Bluetooth, but even worse, locked it behind a paywall. Who puts digital keys behind a paywall?!
Been using this for years with several different BMW's. Zero issues, keep spare key in the car for Valet or Car Wash..
Flawless
Flawless
Huh? Tesla’s key implementation has improved greatly over recent years. For example:
1. Originally it used plain Bluetooth, but now it uses UWB (if your phone and car support it) for much improved accuracy.
2. Recently they added “Apple Watch as key” support, which is awesome
3. It knows who’s driving based on who’s sitting in the drivers seat, automatically applying all your personal settings, and doesn’t get it wrong if someone who also has a key is sitting in the passenger seat. Many other cars fail here.
4. On the latest models they’ve added UWB boot (trunk) opening as well. It’s accurate enough to know when you’re walking up to the boot and opens it automatically, but smart enough to not open it if you’re just walking past. I don’t know any other car model that offers this, others all use gestures or a manual button press.
You just reload your new phone (purchased at your local vacation store) from the iCloud backup - boom done. I just bought a new iPad. I reloaded the iPad from the iCloud backup of my current iPad. Less than hour later its done and the old iPad is then erased and sent for trade in.
But there’s also higher likelihood of losing or forgetting something when you have more items, so it’s an age old question of which is safer. I suppose it depends on the specific situation. In this case, it isn’t ideal to put all these important things in one basket, but the great part about digital is that not only can things be spread around but spread redundantly which is even safer. You could use analog items like keys and a wallet redundantly along with your phone, but if you have a Watch, then you can alternatively use it for both keys and cards, the same as your phone. It’s also strapped to your wrist so much less likely to lose it. Another option is if your car or home have alternative pin pads to unlock. So yes, I wouldn’t feel safe always relying only on one device. But we can also still get rid of bulky analog items while being even safer than using only analog items by using a Watch with the phone.
Not sure what you mean by bank security codes, but if you lose your phone then you’d have to find another device to access your passwords and the like online. Not sure what else can be done about that. You could carry all your passwords in a pocket notebook, but that doesn’t seem wise.
How do people lose their phone so much? Jeez! I’ve never lost a cell phone.
I agree everyone should consider these things.
As for what I do—all Apple Wallet keys, cards, passes are redundant on my iPhone and Watch. I do know a couple important phone numbers by memory but all phone numbers and passwords to all accounts can be accessed in iCloud online if I’m stranded without any of my devices. Note this does require memorizing my iCloud password.
For two factor authentication, it varies by the account. Some have backup codes, some can go through your email, some you just have to contact support.
Ah, but then you just lose your car keys and you can use your phone to call someone to pick you up or bring you spare keys.
But if it's all on one device, you lose access to everything.
Many people don't even carry a wallet anymore, since all their cards are on their phone.
As are all your passwords, messages, emails, etc.
What I am saying that the more eggs put into one basket, the more catastrophic it becomes to lose access to it.
What I am not saying is that Apple or Audi shouldn't do this, because it's an added convenience to be able to use your phone as a Swiss army knife.
I'm just pointing out the inherent downside of this, as I don't think there's enough awareness around this.