Update July 14, 2021: The Car Connectivity Consortium has announced that Digital Key 3.0 is now ready for use. All members, including Apple, can now build in the technology. Apple hasn't given a date, but as the first vehicles with support roll off the line until the end of this year, we expect Apple to wait until the end of the year as well.
The following is our January 14 article:
At CarKey you can leave your existing car key in your jacket pocket, because you open the car door with your iPhone. BMW was the first manufacturer to use CarKey and now they are the first with an improvement. The CarKey-compatible Digital Key protocol will transition to Ultra Wideband, which is standard in the latest iPhones.
BMW Digital Key 3.0
The new variant is called Digital Key 3.0 and allows you to open the car without taking the iPhone out of your pocket. With the current BMW Digital Key, you still have to pick up the iPhone by the handle of the car door to be able to get in. You then have to place the iPhone in a Qi-enabled smartphone charger to start the engine.
Digital Key 3.0 was developed in collaboration with Apple and uses Apple's CarKey API. Ultra Wideband provides security and can more accurately determine whether you are really near the car. With a normal digital car key it is possible to copy the key or to intercept the signals. Abuse becomes a lot more difficult if the owner has to be physically near the car. This can be checked by checking whether the correct iPhone is nearby.
Standard for the entire car industry
BMW also uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). In a press release, the automaker said it would work with Apple and the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) to make Digital Key Release 3.0 a global standard for the entire automotive industry.
The partnership between Apple and BMW seems not to go so far that they also build the Apple Car together. Apple would like to partner with Hyundai for this. Hyundai is said to be working on making the cars suitable for Apple's CarKey and plans to introduce it this year. Hyundai would use BMW's current technology, so without Ultra Wideband. Interestingly, Hyundai already wanted to use the Apple Watch as a car key in 2015.
BMW wants to make the new technology available in the iX, a fully electric Sports Activity Vehicle. This will be available at the European dealers at the end of 2021. To use Ultra Wideband, you need an iPhone 11 or iPhone 12 series device. The chip is also present in the Apple Watch Series 6. In the future, Apple would like to build it into many more products, such as iPads and AirPods.