BMW has long had a cozy relationship with Apple but a new bug might short-circuit some of that closeness. iPhone 15 users are reporting that wireless charging in their BMW can cause NFC chip failure. Affected users no longer have the ability to use Apple Pay and say the only option is to replace the phone completely. A new report says that Apple has confirmed the issue in both BMW models and one Toyota model.
We first told you about reports of this issue popping up earlier this month. At the time, there was little more to go on that a few individual accounts of wireless chargers in BMW models killing NFC features. Now, it appears that Apple itself is acknowledging a problem and making moves to remedy the situation.
According to MacRumors, Apple sent an internal memo to authorized service providers confirming that all versions of the iPhone 15 are subject to this problem. What it’s not saying is exactly why the error occurs or what exactly it’ll do to fix the issue aside from releasing a software update later this year.
More: Watch Out! Charging Your iPhone 15 In Your BMW May Permanently Damage It
Until then it seems that even short stints on a wireless charger in a BMW could ruin the NFC chip. “Last night I lost NFC chip as well after a 10 min charge in my new BMW I4,” said one on Apple’s own discussion forum. “My 3-day old iPhone15 Pro was fried after I charged it on my 2023 Z4 charge pad,” said another.
That mention of the Z4 should also trigger the ears of one kind of Toyota customer, those who own a MKV Supra. As it’s built in conjunction with BMW, it also uses the same type of wireless charger and could potentially cause the same damage according to the Apple memo.
From everything we’ve gathered this does seem to be an issue with the iPhone 15 itself, not the cars. Android users haven’t reported anything similar and many iPhone users with previous-generation phones appear to have no issues either. We’ll continue to track this story as it develops.
