Struggling With Bluetooth & Android Auto, BMW Now Is Trying To Solve iPhone 15 Problems
With questions still being asked as to why Apple was not able detect a overheating problem in the their new iPhone 15, prior to the launch of the device, which apparently is caused by a bug in Apple’s new iOS 17, a new problem has emerged with the NFC module in the new iPhone 15 Pro Max smartphone, being nobbled by BMW wireless charging.
This is not the only problem BMW is having with smartphones, the German car maker is also having problems in Australia with Samsung’s top end Galaxy S23 Ultra failing to Bluetooth handshake with current model vehicles.
They are also having problems with users unable to activate Android Auto in the latest X4 model BMW.
As for the latest glitches with the iPhone 15, BMW owners are now reporting that wireless charging is damaging the NFC module.
Several BMW owners in the MacRumors forums as well as users of X reported issues with setting up Apple Pay, when they went to an Apple Store, Apple staff suggested that the NFC module had died.
Eventually, the problem was traced to the use of the wireless charging pads in their BMWs, with some customers reporting that their device had also activated ‘data recovery mode’.
And it wasn’t a case of a defective one-off iPhone, the replacement phones also crashed the NFC module.
According to the users, they had no such issues with previous iPhone models.
So far, the reports are coming mostly from iPhone 15 Pro owners who drive a BMW.
As for BMW’s Android problems, BMW dealers in Australia have told ChannelNews that there is a major problem with Android Auto with owners said that the constant drop out of Bluetooth in current model vehicles is common.
At North Shore BMW in Sydney, management told the owner of a current model x4, that there was nothing they could do other than keep resetting the Bluetooth setting in an effort to get Android Auto to activate.
On one occasion this fix failed even before the owner had left the BMW dealership.
In some cases, Bluetooth has to be manually activated on a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra every time the user gets into the vehicle.
In current model X2 vehicles it appears that BMW is shipping vehicles without Android Auto built in.
On the last occasion the owner of the X4 went to North Shore BMW he was told the problem was the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
It was then pointed out that the week prior the owner had hired a BMW X3 from Avis where both Bluetooth and access to Android Auto had worked “perfectly” over several days.
BMW Management at the Companies Melbourne head office failed to respond to our request for comment.
I suggest that if you have an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max and drive a BMW, avoid using the car’s wireless charging, at least until Apple and BMW figure out what is going wrong.
For now, it seems that the iPhones 15 and 15 Plus don’t have the same issue, but you may want to play it safe, anyway.