Some BMW owners have reported that their iPhone 15’s NFC chip no longer works after charging the device with their vehicle’s wireless charging pad. Affected customers say the iPhone goes into a data recovery mode with a white screen, and the NFC chip is no longer functional after the device reboots. While complaints so far have come from iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users, it is possible the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are also affected. Owners of any iPhone 15 model should proceed with caution until this issue is sorted. We reached out to BMW for a statement on this and will update the article as soon as we receive an update.
The NFC chip powers features like Apple Pay and digital car keys, so affected users are unable to use these features. Some customers say Apple replaced their iPhone after confirming the NFC chip failed, but the replacement iPhone is then vulnerable to the same issue.It’s unclear what the specific cause of the issue is, how many customers are affected, and which BMW models are affected. It is possible that the heat generated from the BMW wireless charger is causing the NFC chip to overheat and fail.
I had the chance to wireless charge my iPhone 15 Pro MAX this past week in the BMW i5, but granted only for less than 5 minutes. Fortunately, I didn’t have this issue, so it’s unclear whether the new BMW 5 Series and i5 uses a different wireless charging technology.
What can you do?
If you have an iPhone 15 and drive a BMW, it is best to avoid charging the device with the vehicle’s wireless charging pad for now. You can use a wired charger or a wireless charger from a different brand. If your iPhone 15’s NFC chip has already failed, you can contact Apple for support. They may be able to replace your iPhone or offer you a refund. The issue seems to be present in both iOS 17 and iOS 17.1 beta, according to a MacRumors forum member: “I had this issue when I update to the 17.1 Beta. As soon as it was done updating, I unlocked the phone and went straight to the data recovery screen. Thankfully once that completed, ApplePay started working after 10/15 minutes.”
BMW’s history of wireless charging issues
BMW wireless chargers have been known to overheat in the past, causing problems for iPhone users. In 2022, there were reports of iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro models overheating and shutting down when charged with a BMW wireless charger. BMW has not yet commented on the recent reports of NFC chip failures on iPhone 15 devices, but considering how new the phone is, likely additional testing is needed. If you have similar issues, please let us know in the comments below so we can forward these issues to BMW.
[Source: MacRumors]