Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Apple's latest and greatest iPhone exhibits one of the most unusual bugs the device has witnessed lately: wirelessly charging the smartphone in a BMW car fries the NFC sensor, breaking down all features relying on this component.
Apple Pay and the digital car keys become unavailable due to the problem, with Apple reportedly issuing replacement units without asking further questions.
The iPhone 15 debuted in September with a major change. It no longer uses Apple's proprietary Lightning port but the widely adopted USB-C, already available on the majority of Android devices, speakers, earphones, and many other devices.
The switch comes after the European Union passed new regulations to enforce USB-C use on all devices beginning in 2024. Apple adopted the change a year earlier, so the iPhone 15 comes with USB-C for charging and data transfers.
However, what causes a frustrating struggle in BMW cars is the wireless charging. Shortly after getting their new iPhones, buyers discovered that using the integrated BMW wireless charger in their cars bricks the smartphones for a reason that nobody has determined so far.
The problem seems to be related to overheating, though other sources claim the NFC chip malfunctions due to high radiation. It's unclear what's the reason, but many of the BMW owners whose cars come with wireless chargers claim they ended up with bricked iPhones after trying to charge the battery with the integrated hardware.
Apple has already started an investigation, promising an update that could ship in the coming weeks, but now BMW is reportedly telling customers to avoid using the wireless charger with an iPhone 15, too. The company didn't release a public announcement, but the recommendation makes sense, especially as the iPhone 15 ends up unable to run digital car keys due to the bug. BMW was one of the first digital car key adopters with support for Apple's iPhones.
BMW owners whose iPhones exhibited the bug claim the devices entered a data recovery mode after disconnecting from the wireless charger. Rebooting the iPhone worked correctly, but the features relying on the NFC sensor were no longer available. Launching Apple Pay displayed a mysterious error claiming that the iPhone "could not set up Apple Pay – an error occurred while setting up Apple Pay," despite the feature already configured on the device.
Resetting the iPhone and trying to remove all cards from the Wallet app did not restore the expected functionality. Customers who contacted Apple claim they've received replacement iPhones, as none of the workarounds the company has attempted restored the bricked device. According to an internal memo, Apple has also instructed Apple Store staff to attempt software repairs but eventually perform hardware fixes if nothing fixes the NFC sensor. Eventually, Apple replaced the broken iPhone with a new unit.
The iPhone 15 debuted in September with a major change. It no longer uses Apple's proprietary Lightning port but the widely adopted USB-C, already available on the majority of Android devices, speakers, earphones, and many other devices.
The switch comes after the European Union passed new regulations to enforce USB-C use on all devices beginning in 2024. Apple adopted the change a year earlier, so the iPhone 15 comes with USB-C for charging and data transfers.
However, what causes a frustrating struggle in BMW cars is the wireless charging. Shortly after getting their new iPhones, buyers discovered that using the integrated BMW wireless charger in their cars bricks the smartphones for a reason that nobody has determined so far.
The problem seems to be related to overheating, though other sources claim the NFC chip malfunctions due to high radiation. It's unclear what's the reason, but many of the BMW owners whose cars come with wireless chargers claim they ended up with bricked iPhones after trying to charge the battery with the integrated hardware.
Apple has already started an investigation, promising an update that could ship in the coming weeks, but now BMW is reportedly telling customers to avoid using the wireless charger with an iPhone 15, too. The company didn't release a public announcement, but the recommendation makes sense, especially as the iPhone 15 ends up unable to run digital car keys due to the bug. BMW was one of the first digital car key adopters with support for Apple's iPhones.
BMW owners whose iPhones exhibited the bug claim the devices entered a data recovery mode after disconnecting from the wireless charger. Rebooting the iPhone worked correctly, but the features relying on the NFC sensor were no longer available. Launching Apple Pay displayed a mysterious error claiming that the iPhone "could not set up Apple Pay – an error occurred while setting up Apple Pay," despite the feature already configured on the device.
Resetting the iPhone and trying to remove all cards from the Wallet app did not restore the expected functionality. Customers who contacted Apple claim they've received replacement iPhones, as none of the workarounds the company has attempted restored the bricked device. According to an internal memo, Apple has also instructed Apple Store staff to attempt software repairs but eventually perform hardware fixes if nothing fixes the NFC sensor. Eventually, Apple replaced the broken iPhone with a new unit.
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