iPhone wireless charging in BMWs causing overheating – not specific to iPhone 15

Multiple reports of problems with iPhone wireless charging in BMWs do not appear specific to the iPhone 15 line-up, but may be exacerbating existing heating issues which Apple says are most acute in the latest models.

Some owners of BMW cars with wireless charging pads are reporting a range of problems, including the NFC chip used for Apple Pay being left unusable …

Problems with iPhone wireless charging in BMWs

Tom’s Guide reports this as an issue with the iPhone 15 line-up.

If you’re the owner of an iPhone 15 and some kind of BMW, then you may want to avoid the car’s wireless charging pad for the time being. A number of owners have reported that the in-car wireless charger is breaking the NFC chip inside the iPhone 15 […]

Apparently using the BMW’s wireless charging pad causes the iPhone 15 to display a white screen and enter data recovery mode — after which the NFC chip is apparently non-functional.

The NFC chip is a pretty important part of any smartphone, especially an iPhone. It’s responsible for Apple Pay payments and digital car keys among things. Affected users are being met with an error message declaring that they “could not set up Apple Pay” with no apparent way to fix the problem.

Some of those who returned their phone to Apple under warranty report that the same thing happened to the replacement unit.

But other cars and iPhone models afffected

However, others are reporting that they experienced the same issue with the iPhone 14 Pro Max and with other car chargers.

This is also with iPhone 14 models. It’s more of a phone heater than a phone charger. I experienced the same thing in Audi as well. The phone is so hot you can’t touch it so I stopped using the wireless charger in my Audi. It occurred on my iPhone 14 Pro Max and 15 promax.

Another user said they experienced overheating warnings with their Tesla wireless charging pad on older iPhones, too.

Tesla QI chargers do this too. 12 pro max, first time the “Temperature – iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it” message appeared since 4S on iOS 7 beta. TSLA eng team should consider options to choose 5-15 watts etc coils and temp doesn’t dissipate well enough smh.

Ford, too.

The same happens on the Ford wireless charger. I get repeat overtemp charging warnings if on there too long.

9to5Mac’s Take

At this point, it seems likely that what we’re seeing is an exacerbation of the overheating issues which Apple says is caused by a bug in iOS 17, and which most affects iPhone 15 models. Apps like Uber and Instagram have also been blamed for using excessive resources.

It does seem sensible to exercise caution, however, and avoid using in-car wireless charging pads until Apple and app developers have had a chance to resolve the software issues which are resulting in excess heat.

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