Apple mulls rental vehicle unlock with the digital car key in your iPhone
The application of digital locks and keys is still in its nascence, but an increasing number of hotel chains and car brands are introducing support for hands-free unlocking via your phone, smartwatch, or other wearable.
Besides bringing passports to the Apple Wallet app on your iPhone, for instance, and increasing the number of supported automakers with the likes of Audi, Volvo, and Polestar, Apple is now exploring how to bring its digital car key convenience to rental fleets.
According to an interview with the head of Wallet Jennifer Bailey, Apple will work with rental giants to not allow reserving a vehicle, but also to authenticate and confirm your identity then issue you a digital car key for the rental car of choice so that you don't have to go pick a physical one from the counter.
Judging from the speed of uptake for some other Apple Pay or Wallet undertakings, that brave new future of unlocking your rental car with an iPhone or Apple Watch is still some time in the future, but now that more and more companies are falling for the digital lock concept, the adoption of this new technology may be faster than expected.
Apple's digital car key now supports a very limited number of brands, such as BMW, Mercedes, cars from the Hyundai/KIA agglomerate, the world's second-largest EV maker BYD, and some niche brands like Lotus or Rivian.
This is a far cry from a widespread Apple digital key usage, as the cars need NFC or UWB connectivity that not even all models from the brands that officially support Apple's digital vehicle unlock can offer.
Still, the Apple digital car key endeavor brings many other conveniences than a simple hands-free unlock as it also authenticates you to start your vehicle when inside, or to lock it automatically when walking away. That's not even mentioning the ability to remotely lock, unlock, or start the car, so uptake is bound to increase as more and more suitable vehicles come to market, including in rental fleets.
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