Mercedes-Benz Preparing to Launch Digital Car Key Support for iPhone and Apple Watch in Latest E-Class Sedan

[Sevendaymelee]

Well you get it repaired if it breaks.

Digital clusters have been around for a while though, I think NHTSA would make them put a redundant system in there if it was prone to failure. You can basically have the screen switch inputs from one computer to another if you needed to.

A repair wouldn't help if you're on the interstate, traveling. You kind of need that dashboard to always be readable etc.

I'm not nearly old enough to be this set in my ways, but I feel like there are some things that need to stay rooted in pragmatism... and a car's dashboard, particularly the parts that deal with critically important things such as gas and speed, should never be fully digital. A digital option, sure. But there should a physical backup, because while physical can fail as well, its rate of failure would be far below that of digital.

But I know, I know. Digital new! Therefore, digital better!

No. Just.. no.

 

[jaytv111]

A repair wouldn't help if you're on the interstate, traveling. You kind of need that dashboard to always be readable etc.

I'm not nearly old enough to be this set in my ways, but I feel like there are some things that need to stay rooted in pragmatism... and a car's dashboard, particularly the parts that deal with critically important things such as gas and speed, should never be fully digital. A digital option, sure. But there should a physical backup, because while physical can fail as well, its rate of failure would be far below that of digital.

But I know, I know. Digital new! Therefore, digital better!

No. Just.. no.

You can still drive just fine without knowing your speed or your gas tank level. But of course you should get that fixed so you don’t have gas tank surprises or speeding ticket surprises.

I can drive just fine if the gauges go out on the interstate, you should feel how fast you’re going and you can estimate how much gas you use or just go to the gas station all the time.

Also you can get your speed from your phone GPS pretty easily. There’s a YouTuber whose cars always break who went without speedometer on one car but used phone for speed just fine (it was an analog gauge that broke).

It seems like a settled issue. I follow car news and haven’t heard that a digital display has caused problems. It’s on its own computer so if the infotainment goes nuts it’s not affected.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

A repair wouldn't help if you're on the interstate, traveling. You kind of need that dashboard to always be readable etc.

I'm not nearly old enough to be this set in my ways, but I feel like there are some things that need to stay rooted in pragmatism... and a car's dashboard, particularly the parts that deal with critically important things such as gas and speed, should never be fully digital. A digital option, sure. But there should a physical backup, because while physical can fail as well, its rate of failure would be far below that of digital.

But I know, I know. Digital new! Therefore, digital better!

No. Just.. no.

You do realise that dash readouts breaking has been something since the dawn of cars, right? Analogue dials, which are mechanical based, are even more likely to completely fail since unlike digital counterparts, if there's a minor fault, they can't just be turned off and on to reset them. Maybe digital technology still feels like it's some newfangled hippie mumbo jumbo to you but microprocessors have been around for half a century now and digital dashboards have been in use for over 40 years now.

 

[Mr_Ed]

You can still drive just fine without knowing your speed or your gas tank level. But of course you should get that fixed so you don’t have gas tank surprises or speeding ticket surprises.

I can drive just fine if the gauges go out on the interstate, you should feel how fast you’re going and you can estimate how much gas you use or just go to the gas station all the time.

Also you can get your speed from your phone GPS pretty easily. There’s a YouTuber whose cars always break who went without speedometer on one car but used phone for speed just fine (it was an analog gauge that broke).

It seems like a settled issue. I follow car news and haven’t heard that a digital display has caused problems. It’s on its own computer so if the infotainment goes nuts it’s not affected.

It’s true that traditionally, the state of a gauge would not prevent you from using the vehicle. My bigger concern is not so much about the use of the screen itself, it’s about the newer interconnected “smart” components and the possibility that the vehicle itself decides it should not be driven if the display goes out and leaves you stranded.

Mind you, I don’t know if ANY modern vehicle would actually do that at all. And like you, I’ve closely followed automotive news for many years and can’t recall an instance of a digital instrument cluster screen being a problem. Not so sure about cars where every f’ing function is on a single screen, though.

 

[jaytv111]

It’s true that traditionally, the state of a gauge would not prevent you from using the vehicle. My bigger concern is not so much about the use of the screen itself, it’s about the newer interconnected “smart” components and the possibility that the vehicle itself decides it should not be driven if the display goes out and leaves you stranded.

Mind you, I don’t know if ANY modern vehicle would actually do that at all. And like you, I’ve closely followed automotive news for many years and can’t recall an instance of a digital instrument cluster screen being a problem. Not so sure about cars where every f’ing function is on a single screen, though.

Yeah, I don't think at least current cars do that. I watch Youtube videos about automotive repairs, everything I've seen says the engine computer is independent of other computer modules (suspension, transmission, infotainment/interior). And the engine computer often doesn't go to the other modules and query for faults in them, it does not care, in fact each module basically just stores faults in an error log and it gets whisked away until you scan over OBD II each module. If the gauge screen had some problem, the engine computer won't even know about it or care one bit.

But, in the future, could they combine modules and make that a reality, maybe, I can't say it won't be a thing, I would think they would make a fully redundant screen system then, like as I said you can have 2 independent computer modules draw the gauges and output to a monitor connection, if one faults out then switch to the other.

 

[Macalway]

The way it is now, you have a key always in your pocket and the car opens by putting your hand on the door handle. I'm not sure how this will in any way help. You can use your phone for remote stuff before this,

There must be something I'm missing here LOL.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

The way it is now, you have a key always in your pocket and the car opens by putting your hand on the door handle. I'm not sure how this will in any way help. You can use your phone for remote stuff before this,

There must be something I'm missing here LOL.

For most people, they probably always have their phone on them so using it as a key means they no longer have to carry the key fob.

 

[webkit]

In 10 years an E Mercedes will be worth about $7,000 except that it's failed dashboard (due to mice eating the eco-soy coated wires) will cost about $15,000 to replace - rendering the car worthless and consigned to the scrapyard.

Perhaps but for at least the last two to three decades or so people have been saying that modern tech/electronics would result in cars being junked faster yet the average age of cars on the road has consistently increased. In 1970, for example, the average of cars on the road was just 5.6 years compared to 12.5 years today. New tech devices or features can also result in new tech ways to repair, refurbish, etc.

 

[Macalway]

For most people, they probably always have their phone on them so using it as a key means they no longer have to carry the key fob.

Right. I don't always want to carry my phone for quick stops though, so I have the small, completely unobtrusive key that never leaves my pocket and is never noticed.
Also, If you always have the fob with you, you can't leave it accidentally, which is a real issue.

But I suppose there are those who are physically merged with their phone so we have this.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Right. I don't always want to carry my phone for quick stops though, so I have the small, completely unobtrusive key that never leaves my pocket and is never noticed.
Also, If you always have the fob with you, you can't leave it accidentally, which is a real issue.

But I suppose there are those who are physically merged with their phone so we have this.

Could you sound any more smug and superior for not being ‘merged with your phone’? Yet you schlep a car key around with you everywhere you go!

Using this, you can just take your phone with you. You don’t have to take it out of your pocket. Hell, if you have an Apple Watch, you don’t even need to take your phone. Unless you think people wearing watches are ‘merged’ with them too then this really is a significantly useful feature for most people.

 

[jaytv111]

Could you sound any more smug and superior for not being ‘merged with your phone’? Yet you schlep a car key around with you everywhere you go!

Using this, you can just take your phone with you. You don’t have to take it out of your pocket. Hell, if you have an Apple Watch, you don’t even need to take your phone. Unless you think people wearing watches are ‘merged’ with them too then this really is a significantly useful feature for most people.

I take it he wants a car key so he doesn’t neeed his phone, maybe as a digital detox measure. Be that as it may, these cars still have keys like they always have so no issue for him.

Though in the distant future maybe they start ditching keys or make them optional, if the vast majority of people start using their phones, but Apple key is still extremely rare.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Yeah, my car has this feature and the only time I’ve ever taken the physical keys with me when I’ve driven the car was when I first bought the car and drove home from the dealership, when I took it in for a recall, to leave the keys with the dealership and once when we did a long trip out of the country with the country, I took one key with us in our suitcase, just in case. The rest of the time, my keys sit in a faraday box at home. The only purpose they serve is pairing my phone.

 

[Azzin]

That only happens when you have the “Driver door-only” mode toggled on. Turn it off and all doors will unlock upon approach.

You get two card keys with the car, you just hand one to the valet.

There’s also a Valet Mode you can engage (on a Tesla anyway).

 

[Azzin]

would like Tesla to incorporate this. bluetooth is sketchy and would rather just wave my Apple Watch at the B-pillar NFC sensor to unlock.

Have you seen the Tesla Ring?

 

[Azzin]

Yes - the Tesla implementation is outstanding.

I agree. I was a bit “Yeah, that’s a useless gimmick”, until my wife got her Model Y and now I think it’s a superb feature.

The software is kinda iOS-ish, but still needs refinement (especially in terms of looking for settings to change something for example), but in the main it’s set and forget.

I do miss Waze if I’m honest, so much so that we got a phone mount for the right hand side of her steering wheel, that we use to run Waze, so we can see the turn by turn directions, as we find the Tesla (Google) nav a bit hit and miss in terms of routes and directions.

 

[Azzin]

My car has this feature and it’s absolutely wonderful. My physical car keys are kept at home in a faraday box and are never used. I’ve gone out before and only realised that I didn’t even have my phone on me when I was waiting in a store for my order to be ready and I wanted to use it to fill some time. My watch had done everything. Between Digital Key, ApplePay and my Nuki front door lock, I never carry a wallet or keys with me anymore and don’t even have to take my phone. Just my watch will do.

Happy Nuki 3.0 Pro owner here too.

 

[Azzin]

“Dont text and drive”

The screen situation in modern cars has the potential to be much more dangerous and is getting out of hand.

I have an E Class with CarPlay and just use Siri to send/reply to texts/WhatsApps.