In Apple, they have the habit of not acknowledging the faults and errors of their devices until well after some time has passed. Whether it’s because they are ready to announce a solution or because they are working on it. In today’s case, it seems to be the second option.
In an internal memo published by MacRumors, Tim Cook’s company states that “charging an iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max with a ‘small number’ of wireless phone chargers built into certain recent models of BMW and Toyota Supra can temporarily disable the device’s NFC capabilities.”
The note does not provide a specific reason for the issue, which was first reported earlier this month. In an iPhone, the NFC chip activates functions such as Apple Pay and digital car keys.
Indeed, this error could be serious for certain users
The affected users might receive an error message stating “Could not set up Apple Pay” in the Wallet app, even if they have already set up Apple Pay.
Apple stated that the issue will be addressed in a software update set to arrive later this year. Since the note was published hours after iOS 17.1 was released today, it seems the fix will require a subsequent update, such as iOS 17.1.1 or iOS 17.2.
In the meantime, Apple advises affected customers to stop using wireless charging in the car.
Affected customers report that the iPhone enters a data recovery mode with a white screen, and the NFC chip is no longer functional after restarting the device.
Customers cannot fix the problem themselves, so it’s necessary to visit an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Therefore, the issue is indeed quite frustrating.
Apple states that technicians can attempt to reset the NFC chip on an affected iPhone using a software tool that is part of the Apple Service Toolkit 2. If this step doesn’t resolve the problem, Apple advises technicians to initiate a hardware repair.
