More car keys: Apple’s car Key soon comes to these cars

Apple improves its support for digital car keys on iPhone and Apple Watch. With iOS 26 and Watchos 26, which will probably be released in September, a total of 13 new vehicle brands for Car Key are to be supported. This is Acura (luxury brand of Honda), Cadillac, Chery (China), Chevrolet, GMC, Hongqi (China), Lucid, Porsche, Rivian, Smart, Tata (India), Voyah (China) and Wey (China). Apple has not yet made any concrete information on models and the support of the support – so it is unclear whether it will be ready until the end of the year. With the new brands, a total of 33 manufacturers or Brands Car Key will be able to use. The function is each in Apple’s Kartensammlätzen Wallet and uses technically Bluetooth and NFC.

Different technical options

Car Key knows different usage modes, which, however, differ depending on the manufacturer. The passive access is the most simplest: Here you only have to approach the vehicle together with an iPhone or an Apple Watch in which a car key is stored so that it opens. If you move away after the trip, it automatically closes. Some car key implementations also allow opening from a distance. If you particularly like it, you can also activate that the car can only be opened or closed if you approach the door handle with iPhone or Apple Watch. The start of the car only works after this process.

Technically, the function is supported from the iPhone XS (iPhone SE from the second generation). With the Apple Watch it has to be a Series 5 or newer, SE and Ultra / Ultra 2 also work. This means that Apple also gives older models to Car Key. The first major extensions of the support had existed last year. At that time, Audi, Volvo and Polestar should be added.

Digital Key 4.0 is on the move

In addition to the expansion of vehicle support, Apple also works on the new Digital Key 4.0 standard. This is developed by the Car Connectivity Consortium and promises a number of new possibilities.

This includes, among other things, cross-platform interior operability and more compatibility with various versions of the standard. It remains to be seen whether switch -up times also improve and retrofit options. Interestingly, the consortium met at Apple for a so -called plug -resistant, in which the technology is tested in real world scenarios.