Here’s something: Apple’s next major iPhone software update, iOS 13.4, has emerged as a beta for testing. 9to5Mac has dug around and found that it contains new information on ‘CarKey’, and it looks good.

• "iOS 13.4 contains references to a “CarKey” API, which will make it possible to use the iPhone and also the Apple Watch to unlock, lock, and start a car. 
• According to the system’s internal files, users will be able to use CarKey in NFC-compatible cars, as they only need to hold the device near the vehicle to use it as a key."
• Not bad. 
• It works with the Apple Wallet and doesn’t require authentication meaning your device can be out of battery and the key will still work: 
• “To use CarKey, hold iPhone or Apple Watch to reader. It will work automatically, without requiring Face ID. You can change express mode settings in Wallet.”
• Add in that you can send the key to family or friends via a Wallet app invite and it looks like a pretty nifty feature.
• It’s unclear how it ties in with CarPlay - directly, or not at all, or somewhere in between.

‘Digital Key’:

• This looks like Apple’s work with ‘Digital Key’, a product of the Car Connectivity Consortium, which counts Apple among its charter members.
• The likes of Google, BMW, GM, Hyundai, LG Electronics, Panasonic, and Samsung are part of the CCC too, and 2020 BMWs and the 2020 Hyundai Sonata feature the Digital Key tech.
• Tesla owners and GM owners and a few other brands have offered this already but taking it to a standard platform on iOS makes a lot of sense.
• It’s very likely Google et al. will work to add the same feature set to Android in time.
• I remember people talking about being unimpressed with the news around Apple Pay and Google Pay, believing it was a pretty minor feature that wouldn’t really be useful.
• The reality has been those small touches offer regular joys, and this could be a winner as well.