Apple's Digital Car Key Feature Set to Gain U1 Ultra Wideband Support With Mid-2021 Spec Update

by

The Car Connectivity Consortium today announced that its Digital Key 3.0 specification with support for Ultra Wideband and Bluetooth LE connectivity will be made available to members like Apple by the middle of 2021.

bmw car key photo
At WWDC 2020, Apple introduced a new NFC-based digital Car Key feature that allows users to unlock and start their vehicle by holding a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch near the driver-side door. Similar to credit cards and boarding passes, digital car keys are stored in the Wallet app on devices running iOS 13.6 and watchOS 6.2.8 or later. So far, the feature is only compatible with select BMW models manufactured after July 1, 2020.

With support for Ultra Wideband, Digital Key 3.0 will enable hands-free, location-aware keyless access to vehicles and other location-aware features for an improved user experience. The specification will allow Apple to improve its Car Key feature so that users can unlock and start a compatible vehicle without taking their iPhone out of their pocket. NFC will continue to be supported as a "mandatory back-up solution."

The improved Ultra Wideband version of Apple's Car Key feature would require devices with the U1 chip like iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models.

BMW previously announced plans to offer Digital Key Plus, an enhanced version of Apple's Car Key feature, in its new iX electric vehicle. BMW said the feature would be available in Europe starting in late 2021 and in North America by early 2022.

In addition to providing a hands-free, location-aware experience, BMW said Ultra Wideband's precision would ensure that relay attacks, where the radio signal is jammed or intercepted, are not possible, resulting in improved security.

"Digital Key Release 3.0 addresses security and usability by authenticating the Digital Key between a vehicle and the mobile device over Bluetooth Low Energy and then establishing a secure ranging session with UWB, which allows the vehicle to perform secure and accurate distance measurement to localize the mobile device," said the Car Connectivity Consortium.

Apple previously said the new version of its Car Key feature with Ultra Wideband support would be available in 2021, but an exact timeframe is unknown. Apple will be hosting a virtual event today at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Tag: Car Keys Guide

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday May 27, 2025 9:10 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of May 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X ...
Read Full Article • 75 comments
iOS 26 Mock Rainbow Feature

No iOS 19: Apple Going Straight to iOS 26

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:56 am PDT by
With the design overhaul that's coming this year, Apple plans to rename all of its operating systems, reports Bloomberg. Going forward, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS will be identified by year, rather than by version number. We're not going to be getting iOS 19, we're getting iOS 26. iOS 26 will be accompanied by iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26...
Read Full Article • 433 comments
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp Teases Long-Awaited iPad App

Monday May 26, 2025 10:23 am PDT by
The popular messaging app WhatsApp has teased a long-awaited iPad app, which would be offered alongside its existing iPhone and Mac apps. The official WhatsApp account on X today reacted with an eyes emoji to a post saying that WhatsApp should release an iPad app. This could be a hint that Meta is gearing up to release WhatsApp for iPad, which has already been available for beta testing via...
Read Full Article • 104 comments
WWDC 2025 Banner

WWDC is Just Two Weeks Away: Here Are the Biggest iOS 19 Rumors

Monday May 26, 2025 8:12 am PDT by
WWDC 2025 is just two weeks away as of today, with Apple's opening keynote scheduled for Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, tvOS 19, visionOS 3, and other software updates, along with new Apple Intelligence features. In some years, there are also hardware announcements at WWDC, but there are no...
Read Full Article • 44 comments
HomePod With Screen Feature

Apple's Rumored Smart Home Hub Has Faced a Disappointing Setback

Monday May 26, 2025 7:18 am PDT by
Apple has scrapped some of the features that it had planned for its long-rumored smart home hub device, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "I'm told that Apple has pulled some bolder features from the device that could reappear in subsequent models," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter this week. However, he did not reveal any of the specific features that were pulled. Apple made...
Read Full Article • 115 comments
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature 2

Apple Rumored to Redesign the iPhone Every Year Through to 2027

Tuesday May 27, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly preparing to implement significant iPhone hardware redesigns each year for the next three generations. According leaks from the Chinese supply chain disclosed by Weibo user "Digital Chat Station," Apple plans to carry out a series of phased industrial design changes affecting different parts of the iPhone across three consecutive years: 2025, 2026, and 2027. The changes...
Read Full Article • 106 comments
Emergency SOS via Satellite iPhone YT

Report: Apple Planned to Offer Starlink-Like Home Internet Service

Tuesday May 27, 2025 7:08 am PDT by
Apple had plans to offer a Starlink-like satellite home internet service in collaboration with Boeing, The Information reports. Starting in 2015, Apple held discussions with Boeing about "Project Eagle," a plan to launch a service to provide wireless internet services to iPhones and homes. The companies would have launched thousands of satellites into orbit around the Earth to beam internet...
Read Full Article • 73 comments
iCloud General Feature Redux

Apple Raises iCloud+ Prices in Three Countries

Monday May 26, 2025 1:45 pm PDT by
Apple recently raised prices for its iCloud+ plans in Brazil, Chile, and Peru, according to a support document updated last Thursday. The table below outlines the price changes in each country. Country Old Prices New Prices Brazil 50GB: R$ 4.90 200GB: R$ 14.90 2TB: R$ 49.90 6TB: R$ 149.90 12TB: R$ 299.90 50GB: R$ ...
Read Full Article • 68 comments

Top Rated Comments

Johnny907 Avatar
Johnny907
54 months ago
Let’s hope it’s more secure than the actual key fobs car makers are using these days.
Case in point: my sister’s week old Audi SQ8 was stolen while she was in the grocery store for 20 minutes last month. You’d think a car that new and that expensive would have unbreakable wireless encryption, but apparently you’d be wrong. Video shows a dude walking up after she leaves, waves something in front of the door for a couple seconds until it unlocks, gets in and 30 seconds later drives off.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razorpit Avatar
Razorpit
54 months ago
I like the idea of this technology, but having to take my phone out of my pocket or holding my watch to the door seems like a step backwards from just grabbing the door handle and having the fob do the work now.

Having had various phone crashes, low battery, etc. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon and leaving the tried and true fob method we have now.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
TheYayAreaLiving ?️
54 months ago
Hopefully it gets expanded to all car models.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razorpit Avatar
Razorpit
54 months ago

Let’s hope it’s more secure than the actual key fobs car makers are using these days.
Case in point: my sister’s week old Audi SQ8 was stolen while she was in the grocery store for 20 minutes last month. You’d think a car that new and that expensive would have unbreakable wireless encryption, but apparently you’d be wrong. Video shows a dude walking up after she leaves, waves something in front of the door for a couple seconds until it unlocks, gets in and 30 seconds later drives off.
That’s the one downside of the current fobs. Encryption needs to catch up with the times.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unregistered 4U Avatar
Unregistered 4U
54 months ago

I like the idea of this technology, but having to take my phone out of my pocket or holding my watch to the door seems like a step backwards from just grabbing the door handle and having the fob do the work now.

Having had various phone crashes, low battery, etc. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon and leaving the tried and true fob method we have now.
I think that’s just for the picture :)… or at least I HOPE it is as this is supposed to be a god replacement for passive entry systems where the car unlocks with a button push if the fob is nearby.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Shivetya Avatar
Shivetya
54 months ago
I am very happy with my Tesla working with blue tooth to open the car and such. I haven't seen a broadcast booster system which exploits it similar to how fobs are exploited. even better we can further protect our car with a pin to start. Ford even allows pin to access the car with their EV
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments