Apple Car Key Support Coming to Future GWM Tank SUVs - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Car Key Support Coming to Future GWM Tank SUVs

Apple's Car Keys feature appears to be coming to TANK vehicles made by Chinese maker Great Wall Motor (GWM), based on code changes discovered by MacRumors in Apple's Wallet app backend.

digital car key iphone
GWM Tank is a dedicated off-road luxury SUV brand produced by the Chinese automaker.

Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch with NFC capabilities to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done simply by holding an Apple Watch or ‌iPhone‌ near a compatible vehicle's NFC reader.

What can be done with Car Keys may vary by car manufacturer, but at a minimum, Car Keys can be used to unlock your car, lock your car, and start your car, which are the features available with a physical key.

Apple introduced Car Keys in 2022, and car manufacturers like BMW, Rivian, Kia, and Hyundai have all implemented support for Car Keys. Apple maintains a full list of vehicles that support Car Keys on its CarPlay model availability webpage.

Popular Stories

bmw car key photo

iOS 27 Code Points to Car Key Support for Lucid and Xiaomi

Wednesday July 8, 2026 8:13 am PDT by
Code spotted in the third developer beta of iOS 27 suggests that Apple is preparing to add car key support for Lucid and Xiaomi vehicles, and that the feature could be nearing launch. The code references the identifiers "LCID" and "XIA1," which appear to correspond to Lucid and Xiaomi respectively. With an Apple car key, drivers can use their iPhone or Apple Watch to lock, unlock, and start...
Apple Event Logo

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces. The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
imac video apple feature

Apple Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever This Year

Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019. Q.ai...

Top Rated Comments

turbineseaplane Avatar
2 weeks ago
I love this branding.

I'm surprised GM hasn't already snapped up the TANK SUV moniker, as they make several models that would qualify.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2 weeks ago
I would never use the apple car key for driving my car. Just yesterday when I wanted to move my car out of the garage, I discovered the key was gone out of my Apple wallet. Don't know if this was due to an upgraded car app or updating ios or just Apple's security rules since I haven't used the phone key in a while.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alexandr Avatar
2 weeks ago

I love this branding.

I'm surprised GM hasn't already snapped up the TANK SUV moniker, as they make several models that would qualify.
I bet Tesla's got a CYBER TANK in the works.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KENESS Avatar
2 weeks ago
Just came to say "Great Wall Motor" is a pretty dang cool name...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
springer7217 Avatar
2 weeks ago
I'd like to point out that Tesla does this flawlessly already and I don't think they're using `Wallet`.
As long as my Apple Watch is on my wrist, or phone in my pocket (with bluetooth on) I'm able to get into my car.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reason077 Avatar
2 weeks ago

Except Tesla’s phone key works flawlessly with its cars and yeah Apple Watch and nfc cars. This is a standard protocol I guess to support the same for many vehicles.

Apple should use teslas tech, lol.
They already do. At least for recent models: Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) with Ultra-Wideband (UWB). Apple Car Key can additionally use NFC on older vehicles, but UWB is the preferred technology. For older vehicles/phones that don't have UWB, Tesla's app uses BLE only, no NFC.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors