New Delhi: Aiming to let more drivers open their cars with an iPhone or Apple Watch, Apple's CarKey feature is likely to be available for Hyundai and Genesis vehicles in the coming months, the media has reported. Apple CarKey feature was unveiled originally in 2020 and it can unlock and start cars and vehicles via a digital key stored in the Wallet app of an iPhone or Apple Watch.
So far, Apple's CarKey feature has been reported to work officially only with BMW and it is likely to expand to Hyundai and Genesis cars now. It is said that CarKey will start to become available in certain models from Hyundai and its Genesis spinoff, according to sources of Bloomberg's Mark Gurman's "Power On" newsletter. Functionality for CarKey will apparently roll out for the unidentified models by the summer, according to a report published in Apple Insider.
This isn't the first time the claim about CarKey expansion has been made. In September 2021, code found in an iOS 15 configuration file referenced Genesis as a "partner" for supported car access terminals, joining the existing BMW relationship, the report added. Howeevr, there has been no official confirmation by either Hyundai or Genesis for Apple CarKey support.
Announced originally in June 2020, Apple iPhone and Watch could securely unlock their cars with digital keys and BMW started to support this feature first. The new feature that started to roll out in iOS 14 called the Apple CarKey feature uses near-field communication (NFC) technology. Digital car keys give users a secure way to use iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock and start their car. Digital car keys can be easily shared using Messages, or disabled through iCloud if a device is lost, and are available starting this year through NFC, Apple had announced at its virtual ‘WWDC20' developer conference.