Buried in the third developer beta of iOS 27 are two new identifiers, “LCID” and “XIA1,” that point to upcoming Apple Wallet Car Key support for Lucid Motors and Xiaomi. The second name is the interesting one: Xiaomi is one of Apple’s biggest global rivals in smartphones, and now it may be about to become a Car Key partner.
MacRumors reporter Aaron Perris spotted the strings in iOS 27 beta 3, which Apple released a few days ago. As with prior discoveries of this kind, the identifiers don’t confirm which specific models will get support or when, but their presence in a live, shipping beta suggests the feature isn’t far off.
Apple had already named Lucid as one of 13 automaker brands slated to “soon” get Car Key support back at WWDC 2025, alongside Acura, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Porsche, Rivian, Smart, Tata Motors, Hongqi, WEY, Chery, and Voyah. Apple never gave a timeframe then, and more than a year later, Lucid still hasn’t flipped the switch on either its Air sedan or Gravity SUV.
Xiaomi’s appearance is new thought as the company has aggressively expanded into EVs with the SU7 sedan and YU7 SUV, and Car Key support would be one of its first meaningful tie-ins with Apple’s ecosystem, despite the two companies competing head-on in phones. If it ships, Xiaomi owners will be able to use an iPhone or Apple Watch to lock, unlock, and start the car instead of carrying a physical fob, the same mechanic Apple has offered for years via NFC and UWB.
Apple’s backend has previously picked up references to GM, Voyah, Smart, and most recently Volkswagen, all ahead of any formal activation by those automakers. GM and Cadillac support was reported months ago, and buyers still can’t use it. Volkswagen’s code turned up in Apple’s Wallet backend just days before this Lucid/Xiaomi discovery. Apple’s software is consistently ahead of its partners’ actual deployment schedules.
Neither Lucid nor Xiaomi has said anything publicly and there’s no confirmed model list and no date. But the timing is suggestive as iOS 27’s public beta is expected mid-July, possibly as soon as Monday, July 13, with the finished software shipping this fall alongside the new iPhone lineup. Code landing in beta 3 rather than a later build raises the odds this makes the September release rather than getting held back.
For Lucid drivers specifically, this is less a fresh promise than a status update on an old one. Apple mentioned the brand at WWDC 2025 over a year ago, and nothing has shipped since. Users are not happy as Lucid’s existing phone-based unlock experience is really poor, and could see the benefit of a proper Car Key rollout specifically because the current app-based system is unreliable. Another thing to note is that Apple’s Car Key still works when the iPhone’s battery is dead, unlike Tesla’s phone-key setup.
