Apple says BMW wireless chargers really are messing with iPhone 15s

L4sBot@lemmy.worldmod to Technology@lemmy.world – 197 points – Apple says BMW wireless chargers really are messing with iPhone 15s
theverge.com

Apple says BMW wireless chargers really are messing with iPhone 15s::An Apple memo to authorized repair providers reportedly says BMW and Toyota Supra wireless chargers can disable iPhone 15 NFC chips.

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maybe BMW can introduce a monthly fee to disable features!

They’ll probably just tell people to deal with it and not use an iphone with a bmw like what they tell motorcycle riders

What's this about motorcycles?

If people mount their phone on a motorcycle the parts for images stabilization and optical zoom (moving parts) can break, because of the potential vibrations a motorcycle can have.

Though this isn’t just a iPhone issue.

It’s also not just a BMW or motorcycle issue. It happens when people mount their phones on bicycles as well.

If you mount your phone to your motorcycle the vibrations can mess up the tiny motors that are in the camera to make it focus.

There is a software update in the works for this, but BMW is probably equally at fault, their wireless chargers have sucked since they introduced them. All they do is heat up the phone and they don’t actually charge them. I had one in my 2020 BMW, and didn’t bother ordering it for my 2022, and there have been complaints for years on one of the largest BMW forums, bimmerpost.

I hope you're talking about a second vehicle and not replacing your car every 2 years. I replace my phone less frequently than that.

Someone’s gotta make all those 2-3 year old certified pre owned vehicles.

Plus nobody wants to be caught dead driving a 3 year old BMW. It's already on its last leg by that point.

Lol, around here badge shoppers driving 5+ year old cars are like half the BMW driving population.

Likely a lease in that case. Common practice for people that like always driving the newest cars. It's a bit more expensive than buying, and you don't end up owning a car. But significantly cheaper than renting. So you do have to be in a position where it's worth the cost to you.

Well, you claim all the fuel and service costs as business expense when leased, so if you drive a lot it can be significantly cheaper

I'm not a tax expert but that sounds wrong. If you arent using it for business you don't get to claim business expenses on it. I don't see how owning or leasing makes a difference.

Feel free to correct me.

Yeah, you can only claim fuel and service costs if it's used for business purposes. You can do the same with a privately owned vehicle though if you also use it for business, you just need to claim based on % usage.

Does driving to and from work qualify as business purpose?

Generally no unless your employer is paying you for travel. At least in the US, commuting to work is not paid time, so it's not a business expense.

Leasing the car comes from pre-tax salary, as does all servicing and fuel. It's the same as salary packaging a phone or laptop, only the majority of use should be business - not all. Obviously this doesn't apply to every country but it is the case here

I think you’re missing the point: not everyone leases their cars for work. I have a couple buddies that lease because they like having new cars every year or two and it’s easier than buying and selling every time. They’re 100% personal use vehicles.

For example, I have a friend who's job is to have meetings with other people.

Most days, she drives to the office, then gets out of her personal car and gets in the company car, then drives the company car to the meeting, then to the next meeting, and the next one, then back home. She racks up a lot of car expenses, probably drives between 4 hours a day, five days a week. The car is leased by the company, all of the servicing is paid for by the company, all of the fuel goes on the company credit card. It's absolutely a business expense.

Her company doesn't allow it, but if they did she could totally park the car at home overnight instead of at the office. And then she probably wouldn't even need to own a car. Just don't drive it on the weekend or you could be done for tax evasion (that's probably why they make all employees park the company cars at the office - people would use them for personal trips).

Technically, owning vs leasing doesn't make much difference. But it is a hell of a lot easier (and therefore cheaper - because you need to pay someone to figure this stuff out) to pay a monthly bill vs a huge expense one year, then minimal expenses each month, then revenue when you sell the secondhand car.

Why? I love being able to buy a 2 year old BMW for the same price as an equivalent Renault

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Users have been reporting that their iPhone 15’s NFC chips were failing after using BMW’s in-car wireless charging, but until now, Apple hasn’t addressed the complaints.

That seems to have changed as MacRumors reported this week that an Apple internal memo to third-party repair providers says a software update later this year should prevent a “small number” of in-car wireless chargers from “temporarily” disabling iPhone 15 NFC chips.

(tldr: 1 sentences skipped)

Users have been complaining about BMW wireless chargers breaking Apple Pay and the BMW digital key feature in posts on Reddit, Apple’s Support community, and MacRumors’ own forums.

BMW seemed to acknowledge the issue early this month when the BMW UK X account replied to a complaint earlier this month saying the company is working with Apple to investigate the issue.

There’s no easy way to know which models are affected, so for now, if you have a BMW or a Toyota Supra with a wireless charger, it’s probably best to just avoid using it until the problem is fixed.

The Verge has reached out to Apple, BMW, and Toyota for a statement, but did not hear back by press time.

The original article contains 211 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 9%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Sounds like an apple problem, so fuck m. Stop buying apple products asshole!

Let's get something clear: a wireless charger CANNOT disable an NFC chip. They are two VASTLY DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES.

A wireless charger is nothing more than a wire coil hooked up to electricity. That's it. No smarts involved.

BMW must likely have an NFC chip also mounted in the same place which for some reason is disabling the NFC on the iPhone.

Maybe it's trying to take a reading off the chip but after a while the iPhone disables the NFC because it doesn't recognise the request? Or maybe Apple haven't properly programmed properly? Who knows?

Disagree.

They can't do it through software, but a wireless charger is inducing a current in a coil. NFC chips often use a coil antennal, and inducing a current in that could well trip a protective device, like a resettable fuse. It could be limited to these devices because of a particular resonance or harmonic they share

It's still VERY odd. Virtually every phone that has NFC and wireless charging have the 2 very close to each other. The charging coil is normally in the middle of the phone and the NFC a little above it.

If there was a real chance that the NFC could EASILY be affected by a wireless charger, the engineers would not place the 2 so close together.

Clearly something is up with Apple or BMW has got something else going on in there.

Hopefully we'll find out.

Not that I care, I use Android and it works properly.

Yes, it is very odd.

Which is why it’s newsworthy.