Apple CarKey, the unofficial name of using car keys with your iPhone and Apple Watch, is a feature of Apple that was added in the summer of 2020. The function adds a car key to the Wallet app, after which you can open and start your car via NFC (and recently also via Ultra-Wideband) with your iPhone or Apple Watch. But the only brand that is suitable so far is BMW. But the good news is that this seems to be changing.
Apple's CarKey expansion from Summer 2022
In his latest newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that in the The first expansion of Apple's car keys is planned for summer 2022. But whether we in the Netherlands immediately benefit from this remains to be seen. It would be Hyundai's Genesis line. These models are not yet sold new in the Netherlands and the line has only recently been available in Europe.
Earlier there were indications in the code of iOS 15 that Hyundai's Genesis will be added.
Whether this expansion will also mean that more cars will tack is not clear. It often happens that new functions from Apple have a long run, although this is very long in the case of car keys. It also took a while with CarPlay, in the beginning called iOS in the Car, before car brands started to offer this as standard in their cars. In addition, Apple's digital car keys now seem to be mainly available in the more expensive cars, making the feature far from being as accessible.
If you are already the lucky owner of a suitable car, you can read our tip on how to set up Apple CarKey.