If you can do this while being chased, it might be highly useful.
Especially in movies. The actor dives off the cliff, unlocks the helicopter door with his iPhone (or Watch!!) as he’s falling, enters the cockpit, and pulls up at the last second.
As it works now with my Land Rover you don't need to do anything with the key fob but have it within range. The door will open. In the vehicle you depress the brake pedal and press the power on button to start. When you're finished you just touch the handle after closing the door to lock it. Interestingly, it knows if you, say, left the fob in the car because it won't let you lock it.
Now, anyone with the fob could access your vehicle just like any standard key. What I'd like to see is the convenient of this fob with the added security. For example, your Apple Watch will do the same thing as the current fob when on your wrist and you've authenticated the device since putting it on.
I guess it's not NFC, but my Tesla 3 is primarily opened only with the iPhone and the Tesla app via Bluetooth. It works like a champ actually. No key means walk up, it wakes up. Walk away, it sleeps/locks/etc...
While they're at it, they should also use the NFC chip to mitigate texting or other phone distractions and shut off those features from the phone when in the driver's seat.
I'm curious how robust such a method is against spoofing/hacking versus physical keys with onboard RFIDs for secondary authentication (example: the now discontinued Mazda RX-8 has a conventional physical key which also carries an embedded RFID which the PCM must authenticate in order to enable to fuel pump).
Originally we thought TouchID would enable the car to open and start. FaceID on your iPhone for authentication would work also. Remember, this doesn't mean a random person could download an app and open your car, that would be silly.
I'm curious as to how this would work with parking valets. Being able to "share" a virtual key doesn't seem like a viable option since it would depend on the valet having an iPhone (or compatible phone), and often there are numerous valets so it would be next to impossible to manage.
Maybe cars could have a valet key that we activate before handing it over.
Along those lines ... Just one large EMP and no anything Notice how in many a dystopian future apocalypse movie the protagonist looks for an old pre computer age car?;).
It's a valid point though but I'd imagine there would always be an analog backup system available.
I don't want them to replace my car key, I want them to replace my car!
Let's see an autonomous electric that makes sense for 90% of the population from Apple. If it happens anytime in the next five years, it'll be a blockbuster.
Then car thieves wouldn't have to hack your door lock. They could sit comfortably in their apartment with their laptop, remotely hack the car in your garage, and just program it to drive away. The future of car thievery, cars that steal themselves.
I'm curious as to how this would work with parking valets. Being able to "share" a virtual key doesn't seem like a viable option since it would depend on the valet having an iPhone (or compatible phone), and often there are numerous valets so it would be next to impossible to manage.
Maybe cars could have a valet key that we activate before handing it over.
It would be silly if the "digital key", e.g., iPhone, is the only option to activate the car's system.
I'm curious as to how this would work with parking valets. Being able to "share" a virtual key doesn't seem like a viable option since it would depend on the valet having an iPhone (or compatible phone), and often there are numerous valets so it would be next to impossible to manage.
Maybe cars could have a valet key that we activate before handing it over.
Self-driving cars will thankfully one day soon end the entire valet “profession”.
Which highlights the benefits of why Apple "slowed down" older phones with weak batteries: Without it, they would go dead from a 30% charge in a heart beat. This would make that situation even worse!
As it works now with my Land Rover you don't need to do anything with the key fob but have it within range. The door will open. In the vehicle you depress the brake pedal and press the power on button to start. When you're finished you just touch the handle after closing the door to lock it. Interestingly, it knows if you, say, left the fob in the car because it won't let you lock it.
Now, anyone with the fob could access your vehicle just like any standard key. What I'd like to see is the convenient of this fob with the added security. For example, your Apple Watch will do the same thing as the current fob when on your wrist and you've authenticated the device since putting it on.
My wife's Mazda works the same. It's not unusual to ask one of the kids or occasionally a friend of theirs, often after a grocery store trip, to get something out of my wife's car. A Fob is convenient, face recognition or a wearable not so much.
I'm curious how robust such a method is against spoofing/hacking versus physical keys with onboard RFIDs for secondary authentication (example: the now discontinued Mazda RX-8 has a conventional physical key which also carries an embedded RFID which the PCM must authenticate in order to enable to fuel pump).
The big difference is normal RFID tags like the ones used in old car keys for immobilizers just respond with a static number. Their security is purely from the low range from which they can be read. Implantable chips for pet identification are actually very similar. They just contain an ID number, which you then look up in a database to find the owner's contact information.
Remotes for power locks brought this ahead a bit by using a rolling code, but it is still extremely simplistic. Early passive keyless entry systems (such as the one in the C4 Corvette) used the same rolling code system. They were effectively remotes which pressed their own unlock button as you walked around. This also resulted in the remote's battery only lasting a few months at a time.
Newer passive keyless entry systems are significantly improved over that. Instead of the remote detecting you are moving and sending a code, the car (with its much bigger battery) broadcasts a periodic signal to ask if the remote is near it. The signal contains a challenge. When the remote picks it up, it takes the challenge, crafts a response which only that remote could send, then broadcasts it back to the car. If the car sees a response from a remote it trusts, it unlocks.
This has led to a relatively new class of burglary involving a relay system. The attackers bring a radio near the car which receives the signal, then sends it using a much stronger, more directional radio towards where they think the key might be. If the key receives it, it sends its response, and the burglars' radio picks it up, then hands it back to the car. This allows them to unlock the car and take things from inside it, but not necessarily to steal the car itself.
This system is more like the challenge-response system used in modern passive keyless entry. The car will look for phones and send a challenge. If the phone has the proper token, it will be able to generate an acceptable response and the car will unlock. The big question I have is whether this will require cell connectivity. I'm not interested in paying for a cell subscription for my car. It has no business talking to any external computer.
I love it...walk up to my car with my AppleWatch on and I can get in my car!
Me too! The only thing that keeps me from walking in to Trader Joe’s with only my watch on. Posted this feature request on Apple’s feedback page a few months ago. Also did the AirPod hearing booster thing. I guess Tim just waits around to see what I want and then responds with action. Thanks, Tim!
Tell Tim to have the Apple Watch tell us when we leave our phone behind at the restaurant etc. The original Pebble watch could do this.
I'm not sure why you necessarily need new/special technology for this. As others have pointed out, you can already do this on a Tesla Model 3. I'm not sure if the proximity fobs that are in use now use bluetooth or another technology, but given the fact that bluetooth is built into almost every car, there shouldn't be much new tech needed, just adaption of existing tech.
As far as the doomsday sayers go, all the current key fobs have a physical key backup for the dead-battery scenario, and every single car made in the past 15 years would be incapacitated by an EMP. Having an iPhone key won't change that.
Comments
Now, anyone with the fob could access your vehicle just like any standard key. What I'd like to see is the convenient of this fob with the added security. For example, your Apple Watch will do the same thing as the current fob when on your wrist and you've authenticated the device since putting it on.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208090
It's a valid point though but I'd imagine there would always be an analog backup system available.
Remotes for power locks brought this ahead a bit by using a rolling code, but it is still extremely simplistic. Early passive keyless entry systems (such as the one in the C4 Corvette) used the same rolling code system. They were effectively remotes which pressed their own unlock button as you walked around. This also resulted in the remote's battery only lasting a few months at a time.
Newer passive keyless entry systems are significantly improved over that. Instead of the remote detecting you are moving and sending a code, the car (with its much bigger battery) broadcasts a periodic signal to ask if the remote is near it. The signal contains a challenge. When the remote picks it up, it takes the challenge, crafts a response which only that remote could send, then broadcasts it back to the car. If the car sees a response from a remote it trusts, it unlocks.
This has led to a relatively new class of burglary involving a relay system. The attackers bring a radio near the car which receives the signal, then sends it using a much stronger, more directional radio towards where they think the key might be. If the key receives it, it sends its response, and the burglars' radio picks it up, then hands it back to the car. This allows them to unlock the car and take things from inside it, but not necessarily to steal the car itself.
This system is more like the challenge-response system used in modern passive keyless entry. The car will look for phones and send a challenge. If the phone has the proper token, it will be able to generate an acceptable response and the car will unlock. The big question I have is whether this will require cell connectivity. I'm not interested in paying for a cell subscription for my car. It has no business talking to any external computer.
As far as the doomsday sayers go, all the current key fobs have a physical key backup for the dead-battery scenario, and every single car made in the past 15 years would be incapacitated by an EMP. Having an iPhone key won't change that.