Apple has this week rolled out its iOS 17.1.1 update for iPhone users, which includes a significant bug fix for iPhone 15 users who charge their phones wirelessly in their cars.
The release, now available to download on iPhone 15 and beyond, acknowledges a significant bug that caused Apple Pay and other NFC features to “become available on iPhone 15 models after wireless charging in certain cars.” the issue, reported back at the start of October, seems to have been confined to BMW models, however, Apple doesn’t specify which models were affected in its latest fix. Users report that after using a BMW charging pad to wirelessly charge their iPhone 15, the device would go into recovery mode when lifted off the charger, and then once powered on, NFC would stop working. This affected Apple Pay, and notably digital car keys, which lets users unlock their cars using their iPhones. With BMW being a prime digital car keys partner of Apple’s, this fix is a welcome one.
Updating to iOS 17.1.1 should solve this issue, and also fix a quirky weather app bug we reported last week. In iOS 17.1, and more recent developer betas, snow on the Weather app caused a strange display bug that showed a broken icon on-screen.
A bumpy few months - iMore’s take
No software is ever flawless, but the last few months on iOS 17 have felt like a particularly rocky road in terms of bugs and issues. Beyond the issues mentioned here, an iOS 17 bug caused some significant overheating problems in the iPhone 15 Pro at launch in September. There was also a bug that bricked your iPhone during certain data transfer processes on the new devices too. When you consider what else Apple is dealing with this week, the list starts to make for poor reading:
- Fix issued for Siri HomePod response bug
- Fix issued for a severe Apple Watch battery drain bug
- Reports of new M3 MacBooks shipping with macOS Ventura that can’t be updated to Sonoma
- Report that iOS 18 and macOS 15 development have been paused to quash bug
Issues like severe battery drain on Apple Watch or the NFC not working properly on your iPhone, or Siri not responding to requests on HomePod aren’t small niggles or inconveniences, some of these are a really big deal. The last note about next year’s major releases first made me roll my eyes in true “here we go again” Grand Theft Auto style, yet there’s hope here too. I’m more than happy for Apple to pump the brakes a bit to get us a smoother release, so we don’t have to spend 50% of a software release’s lifecycle waiting for it to work.
To update to the latest iOS 17.1.1 software:
- Open Settings
- Tap General, then Software Update
- Select iOS 17.1
