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Warning: BMW Wireless Charging May Break iPhone 15's Apple Pay Chip

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
62,068
27,999


If you have an iPhone 15 and drive a BMW, it might be best to avoid charging the device with the vehicle's wireless charging pad for now.

BMW-Logo-iPhone-15-Pro.jpg

Over the past week, some BMW owners have complained that their iPhone 15's NFC chip no longer works after charging the device with their vehicle's wireless charging pad, according to comments shared on the MacRumors Forums and X, formerly known as Twitter. Affected customers say the iPhone goes into a data recovery mode with a white screen, and the NFC chip is no longer functional after the device reboots.

In an iPhone, the NFC chip powers features like Apple Pay and digital car keys. Affected users receive a "Could Not Set Up Apple Pay" error message in the Wallet app, and there does not appear to be a way to fix the problem. Some customers say Apple replaced their iPhone after confirming the NFC chip failed, but the replacement iPhone is then vulnerable to the same issue, so there is currently no permanent solution.

Apple-Pay-Error.jpg

While complaints so far have come from iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users, it is possible the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are also affected, so owners of any iPhone 15 model should proceed with caution until this issue is sorted.

It's unclear what the specific cause of the issue is, how many customers are affected, and which BMW models are affected. We've reached out to an Apple spokesperson for comment, and we'll update this story if we receive a response.

Article Link: Warning: BMW Wireless Charging May Break iPhone 15's Apple Pay Chip
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/10/01/bmw-charging-may-break-iphone-15-nfc-chip/
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jakespeed

macrumors member
Jul 22, 2002
90
71
If other BMW Chargers are as useless as the one in my X5, I'm not surprised. I was excited to have it but after charging in it once or twice, it seems to be better at cooking my phone than charging it. I turned it off and use the space as a holder now.

With it off however, I was able to transfer my keys to my 15 Pro with no more difficulty than the usual multiple try operation I through with previous phones.
 
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jdavid_rp

macrumors regular
Feb 25, 2020
185
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ThomasJL said:
What is the point of wireless charging? To save a couple of seconds that it would otherwise take to plug in a wire? Taking that couple of seconds to plug in a wire will save several minutes or even hours because wired charging charges the phone much faster than wireless charging.
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Well, that’s the point of comfort features...
 
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Mazda 3s

Mazda 3s

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2006
510
478
My iPhone 14 Pro will get uncomfortably hot when wireless charging in my Tesla Model 3 and would also often give a message saying that charging has stopped due to heat. I am foregoing wireless charging at all with my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I just don’t trust it. I also had my battery run down to 89% health after a year on my iPhone 14 Pro, and I think it’s primarily due to it overheating while wireless charging.
 
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applepotato666

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2016
292
570
Regular iPhone 15 here. There’s an issue with the NFC in these.

People have been complaining over Reddit that Apple Pay doesn’t communicate with the terminals and I’m affected too. Not heat or wireless charging related, NFC just dies. Start saying “Hold near reader” and nothing happens. Can’t use Apple Pay.

Not exclusively related to BMW or wireless charging because I don’t have a BMW, but it could be something that contributes to the issue.
 
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SunMac

SunMac

macrumors member
Jul 19, 2018
36
34
The overheating issue I could care less about (I don't respect anyone who uses Instagram, I always uninstall Uber after I use it, I don't play freebie games with in app purchases, etc) but this seems like a pretty serious glitch. Been using iPhone 15 Pro since launch and havn't had any issues!
 
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Nimoy

Nimoy

macrumors 6502
Apr 18, 2010
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jakespeed said:
If other BMW Chargers are as useless as the one in my X5, I'm not surprised. I was excited to have it but after charging in it once or twice, it seems to be better at cooking my phone than charging it. I turned it off and use the space as a holder now.

With it off however, I was able to transfer my keys to my 15 Pro with no more difficulty than the usual multiple try operation I through with previous phones.
Click to expand...
I didn’t know you could turn it off. Did you do that through Settings or did you have to go to the dealership?
 
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