Wireless charging pad in BMW, Toyota cars damaging your Apple iPhone 15?

Wireless charging pads inside cars are an increasingly common feature in both mass-market as well as luxury car models. With more and more smartphones now supporting charging without the clutter of wires, car manufacturers are only too keen to oblige. But is wireless charger in your car completely safe for your devices?

According to local reports in the US, Apple has issued an internal memo to identify the source of a potential problem which could lead to the NFC chip in Apple iPhone 15 malfunctioning if the devices are wirelessly charged in at least two BMW and one Toyota models.

Reports highlight that the internal memo issued to authorised service providers suggest that all versions and variants of iPhone 15 are susceptible to NFC chip failure when wirelessly charged in the particular BMW and Toyota models. The specifics of which are these models, however, have not been mentioned.

The NFC chip is crucial for new-age smartphones and a malfunction will restrict owners from making use of Apple Pay services. There have been a few posts on social media site X on this matter too with owners complaining that they will have to replace their smartphone entirely. While it is claimed that BMW has issued a warning to its customers over the matter, this is not yet officially confirmed.

It is expected, however, that Apple will work on a software update to address the issue even though there is no clarity as yet about why the problem is cropping up in the first place.

Interestingly, no Android user has reported problems of a similar nature. This may effectively prove that the issue at hand is with iPhones and not with the BMW or Toyota models. In the meantime, there is always the option of either charging at home or using a conventional cable and USB slot in a car to power the devices.