One of the big criticisms of built-in car nav systems was the difficulty and cost of obtaining and installing updated map info. Meanwhile, Google, Apple, and a number of standalone GPS manufacturers offer near-continuous updates and don't charge extra. It's worth noting that Hyundai, however, is claiming that its car nav systems will soon incorporate wifi update capability when tethered to a wireless smart phone.
Yet you have to wonder ... why bother? Last fall we took a road trip around Lake Michigan and had great Maps app service on an iPad, except for one remote 50 mile stretch in the Upper Peninsula where the signal was still limited to EDGE. In most places, AT&T was delivering 4G and LTE.
Since Apple Maps (and voice navigation) is built into CarPlay why would one require a navigation unit from the car manufacturer?
As previously mentioned, it's because the way you get a large color tochscreen in today's cars is by getting the package that includes navigation. It's not because CarPlay requires the car to have its own navigation system,
Also. does anyone know if CarPlay is limited only to Apple Maps? Can one use another map application or GPS nav app on your phone?
We know that 3rd-party icons can show up on the CarPlay UI so I hope that Apple will not force everyone to use Apple Maps with CarPlay.
One of the big criticisms of built-in car nav systems was the difficulty and cost of obtaining and installing updated map info. Meanwhile, Google, Apple, and a number of standalone GPS manufacturers offer near-continuous updates and don't charge extra. It's worth noting that Hyundai, however, is claiming that its car nav systems will soon incorporate wifi update capability when tethered to a wireless smart phone.
Yet you have to wonder ... why bother? Last fall we took a road trip around Lake Michigan and had great Maps app service on an iPad, except for one remote 50 mile stretch in the Upper Peninsula where the signal was still limited to EDGE. In most places, AT&T was delivering 4G and LTE.
1) This will probably be one of those vestigial technologies that is no longer used extensively but still included, like 802.11b, GPRS, USB 1.1, or (in cars) AM radio and cassette tapes, as large colour displays become more standard features. They've already laid the groundwork years ago for those large colour displays in cars, there will surely be a few holds that don't want a smartphone or a rare occasion when it's not on them or not working, and it doesn't hurt the spec list to include it.
2) I'd like to see WiFi in cars because then it will be possible for CarPlay to work wirelessly. It's simply not an option with BT.
OEM navi is so over priced when we all have a GPS unit in our pockets
Are you sure about that? You are paying about $100 a month to use your iPhone with unlimited data for your Navi in your pocket. That is about $1,200 per year for your Navi system in your pocket, that you continue to pay every year, every month. I paid $1,500 once for the OEM Navi option, which also included other features in the car. Decent aftermarket stereos with Navi will cost $1,000 to $1,500, and sometimes more. Add an amp, speakers and a sub and you are close to $2,000 for an aftermarket system. Yet you will continue to pay monthly and yearly for something that you think is overpriced to pay one time only. Oh, my OEM navi will continue to work in areas without cell service. Good luck with your iPhone navi without cell service.
Are you sure about that? You are paying about $100 a month to use your iPhone with unlimited data for your Navi in your pocket. That is about $1,200 per year for your Navi system in your pocket, that you continue to pay every year, every month. I paid $1,500 once for the OEM Navi option, which also included other features in the car. Decent aftermarket stereos with Navi will cost $1,000 to $1,500, and sometimes more. Add an amp, speakers and a sub and you are close to $2,000 for an aftermarket system. Yet you will continue to pay monthly and yearly for something that you think is overpriced to pay one time only. Oh, my OEM navi will continue to work in areas without cell service. Good luck with your iPhone navi without cell service.
$100 a month? Maybe you are. I pay $50 a month with Sprint for unlimited data on my 5s and my plan is not even the cheapest for unlimited. Sprint now has $45 a month unlimited plans. And yes I mean truly unlimited LTE which means no soft caps and no throttling. I used around 25GB last month for example because I went on vacation and watched a lot of HBOgo and Netflix. There are plans with many carriers for $45 a month and possibly lower. Not to mention that GPS on my phone is just an added bonus to all the other things it can do. Unless you plan on not having a phone at all you will still be paying for it monthly as well.
One of the big criticisms of built-in car nav systems was the difficulty and cost of obtaining and installing updated map info.
Last fall we took a road trip around Lake Michigan and had great Maps app service on an iPad, except for one remote 50 mile stretch in the Upper Peninsula where the signal was still limited to EDGE. In most places, AT&T was delivering 4G and LTE.
What do you base your first opinion on? Have you ever owned a car with Navi and updated it? Sounds like you never have. Map updates were easy, and when on sale, inexpensive. I bought Honda DVDs when they were on sale for $99 (instead of $149). I sold my old Map DVD on eBay and recouped half the cost or more of the new DVD. Install the new DVD and your update is done automatically. How hard is that? Current Hondas no longer use DVD drives. They are flash-memory. Map upgrades are now purchased as a USB flash drive. Plug in the flash drive and the new data is uploaded to the stereo. Why do you think that is hard to do? Map updates are not necessary every year. I bought one in 2007, and another in 2011. Your smartphone requires a monthly fee.
You confirmed the failure of smartphone navigation. No cell service, no navigation. My OEM navi would still work perfectly because it does not require cell service to operate. People who claim smartphone nav is better are full of themselves. They all get to the same address. My Honda Navi did a better job than a Garmin, which prompted multiple turns to get to one location instead of a more direct route guided by my Honda's Navi.
Portable Navis get stolen all the time because people are too lazy to remove them from the windshields. The OEM dash stereo is unlikely to ever get stolen, which is another benefit.
$100 a month? Maybe you are. I pay $50 a month with Sprint for unlimited data on my 5s and my plan is not even the cheapest for unlimited. Sprint now has $45 a month unlimited plans. And yes I mean truly unlimited LTE which means no soft caps and no throttling. I used around 25GB last month for example because I went on vacation and watched a lot of HBOgo and Netflix. There are plans with many carriers for $45 a month and possibly lower. Not to mention that GPS on my phone is just an added bonus to all the other things it can do. Unless you plan on not having a phone at all you will still be paying for it monthly as well.
If you are lucky to get Sprint service well in your area, good for you. Sprint's lowest fee is $70 per month for unlimited individual plan. You are talking about family rates, I looked it up. Sprint sucks big time in Los Angeles, with the worst coverage. What good is a phone with lousy coverage areas? Have you ever heard of a pay as you go phone? I paid $100 for a YEAR of phone service with a pay as you go phone. Smartphones are not required to survive in life. There are plenty of phone options that don't require monthly fees every month.
Why does this article exist? It tells us what we already know. Every car manufacturer out there has crappy packages to hide the features you do want with a bunch that you don't want so they can jack up the average retail price of their cars. Is this at all surprising? This is exactly what Cable companies do with programming as well.
Probably not. The more likely reason is:
1. Apple users are made out of money
...
4. Apple users are willing to "pay a premium" for nice things
...
1. I'm living on disability. I have almost no money at all. I gave my first (original) iPhone to my equally poor friend so she could have a decent phone and she loves it. Another close friend has her own business and just barely scrapes by, but she helped me buy my current iPhone 4 and she uses Apple product extensively.
4. Premium for "nice things"? Try again. We buy the stuff that works more often, more reliably, with greater ease (I was a tech geek all my life and I've abandoned that stupid lifestyle and abandoned tech work because it's a never-ending dead end job and pointless and expensive lifestyle). Computing devices shouldn't require so much damn management and reloading and rebuilding. Screw that. My existing self-built PC is the last PC I will ever build. If I can afford to buy a games-only computer some day (highly unlikely) that's the only way I'll even possibly buy another Windows machine. All funds I can scrape together now are dedicated to a self-contained computing appliance like a Mac of some type. In the long run, my MacBooks have cost me FAR LESS than my constantly troubled PC builds (and before you go blaming me for choosing crappy parts, I didn't; I went with the recommendations of all the other geeks, and only after buying those parts did the consensus change to reflect how junky those specific ASUS and EVGA parts were in hind sight!!). Never again!! One unified warranty, with one entity, not some pile of various parts with various warranty coverage entities! This is why I pay "more" for Apple product.
Now I just hope Apple undoes some of its foolishness with iOS 7, and doesn't trash Mac OS X the same way it trashed iOS.
No surprise here. The Hyundai is a low cost car with tons of premium features available. If anyone has purchased a car with navi before, they know it comes at a premium price.
I don't see the cost going down soon either as cars switch from resistive to capacitive touchscreens. CarPlay is nice, but it will shine on a display that supports swipes and multi-touch gestures.
Electronics for a car need to be a lot tougher than the equivalent for the home. Also, all cars come with at least a 3 year warranty and several, like the Hyundai, have a 5 year warranty. The cost to support that needs to be baked into the price somewhere.
If you are lucky to get Sprint service well in your area, good for you. Sprint's lowest fee is $70 per month for unlimited individual plan. You are talking about family rates, I looked it up. Sprint sucks big time in Los Angeles, with the worst coverage. What good is a phone with lousy coverage areas? Have you ever heard of a pay as you go phone? I paid $100 for a YEAR of phone service with a pay as you go phone. Smartphones are not required to survive in life. There are plenty of phone options that don't require monthly fees every month.
No, the new framily plan rates are open to anyone including individuals, you do not need a family to get family rates. To get the $45 unlimited rate as an individual all you do is join a plan that already has 6 other people which is easy to do now since there are websites/facebook sites for people to share their ID's. Sort of similar to the way DirecTV offers reduced rates for sharing account ID's. You can check the framily ID before you join to make sure 6 are there before you join to make sure you get the $45 unlimited rate.
I agree without good coverage where you live/work/play it would be pointless to use any carrier. I was in L.A. about 4 months ago and got good service. Granted I was there only 4 days and also realize metro L.A. is a huge area and I only visited a tiny part. I get great coverage where I live so am happy with Sprint but more importantly my bill. My recent vacation was to Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach and on the 10 hour drive there and back got great LTE speeds the whole trip. I streamed Pandora and sometimes iTunes radio the whole trip.
Agreed, Pax. But having the cables and having to hookup everytime b/c of battery life is not convenient. But as u say, better than other options. The car manufacturers will put the screws to us for CarPlay-Apple's elegant solution
Well, it depends how you have it set up. My Proclip is set up with a permanent cable (pretty much completely hidden) which links directly to the radio. So I just drop the phone in the cradle as I step in (its just the default position by now). Invoke Siri and tell her what you want, and voila! I have had the same system since the long gone iPod days and for me it is the only way until I get a car with CarPlay. The feature I appreciate above all is the charging cradle - I only ever need to charge my phone at weekends if I don't use the car.
4. Premium for "nice things"? Try again. We buy the stuff that works more often, more reliably, with greater ease (I was a tech geek all my life and I've abandoned that stupid lifestyle and abandoned tech work because it's a never-ending dead end job and pointless and expensive lifestyle).
Think of it this way: CarPlay requires a screen and it competes with factory nav systems. Hyundai solves that by bundling it with their nav system, as redundant as it seems. If you want one, you have to buy everything.
Uhhh... So? Many are already equipped with navigation, anyway. It would seem a little out of character to offer such a premium feature as CarPlay on a car with manually-operated windows!
Not so. I just bought a new top of the line Accord but was able to get it without navigation, which saved me $2000. Yet I still got Siri Eyes Free and all the other luxuries. This is a short-sighted choice by Hyundai that is going to lose them sales to other manufacturers.
He DID when he was around. I want to see those drawings.
I doubt it's something we have seen/heard the last of. What with Apple's ever increasing expertise with battery technology, their work with plastics and laminates, their understanding of production, their bank balance, the fact they have a great designer and that the car market is massive...
...makes sense to me that they make an iCar.
Then a year later, Samsung will make a car with a massive windshield and then idiots will start wanting bigger and bigger windshields making the car look ridiculous.
Not so. I just bought a new top of the line Accord but was able to get it without navigation, which saved me $2000. Yet I still got Siri Eyes Free and all the other luxuries. This is a short-sighted choice by Hyundai that is going to lose them sales to other manufacturers.
The "top of the line" Accord is the Touring model which is not available without navigation which means you are at least two models below the "top of the line". Assuming you got an EX-L V6, then there are two models above what you purchased - the Touring and the EX-L V6 with navigation. I have been a big fan of Honda and have purchased four of them in the last eight years - a Civic, and Accord, and two Ridgelines. However, Honda has been experiencing problems up top for a few years now and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. The "redundant-screen" setup in the Accord has been drawing criticism for usability and reliability. Honda has lost their mojo. Their transmissions, engines, quietness (or lack thereof), refinement, and fuel economy have all been outclassed by the competition - they're riding along on their reputation for reliability and resale value from years ago. Let us not forget such oddities as the "economic" Fit which gets WORSE gas mileage on the highway than the much heavier and more powerful Accord!
...which you are already paying, so this is a silly argument. Further, if you are unhappy with any given Map application, you can switch to another one. I have Apple Maps, Google Maps, and Waze all ready to go at a moment's notice. As such, I do not think built-in auto navigation systems can hold a candle to an iPhone (or iPad or whatever portable device you choose) navigation solution, at least as far as cost and versatility go. The one area I'll give in-dash navigation the edge is ease-of-use. But boy do you pay for that. It wasn't worth $2000 to me given that I know where I am going 99% of the time.
Comments
Since Apple Maps (and voice navigation) is built into CarPlay why would one require a navigation unit from the car manufacturer?
Also. does anyone know if CarPlay is limited only to Apple Maps? Can one use another map application or GPS nav app on your phone?
One of the big criticisms of built-in car nav systems was the difficulty and cost of obtaining and installing updated map info. Meanwhile, Google, Apple, and a number of standalone GPS manufacturers offer near-continuous updates and don't charge extra. It's worth noting that Hyundai, however, is claiming that its car nav systems will soon incorporate wifi update capability when tethered to a wireless smart phone.
http://telematicsnews.info/2014/02/20/hyundai-mnsoft-updates-in-car-navigation-maps-over-the-air_f5203/
Yet you have to wonder ... why bother? Last fall we took a road trip around Lake Michigan and had great Maps app service on an iPad, except for one remote 50 mile stretch in the Upper Peninsula where the signal was still limited to EDGE. In most places, AT&T was delivering 4G and LTE.
As previously mentioned, it's because the way you get a large color tochscreen in today's cars is by getting the package that includes navigation. It's not because CarPlay requires the car to have its own navigation system,
We know that 3rd-party icons can show up on the CarPlay UI so I hope that Apple will not force everyone to use Apple Maps with CarPlay.
1) This will probably be one of those vestigial technologies that is no longer used extensively but still included, like 802.11b, GPRS, USB 1.1, or (in cars) AM radio and cassette tapes, as large colour displays become more standard features. They've already laid the groundwork years ago for those large colour displays in cars, there will surely be a few holds that don't want a smartphone or a rare occasion when it's not on them or not working, and it doesn't hurt the spec list to include it.
2) I'd like to see WiFi in cars because then it will be possible for CarPlay to work wirelessly. It's simply not an option with BT.
OEM navi is so over priced when we all have a GPS unit in our pockets
Are you sure about that? You are paying about $100 a month to use your iPhone with unlimited data for your Navi in your pocket. That is about $1,200 per year for your Navi system in your pocket, that you continue to pay every year, every month. I paid $1,500 once for the OEM Navi option, which also included other features in the car. Decent aftermarket stereos with Navi will cost $1,000 to $1,500, and sometimes more. Add an amp, speakers and a sub and you are close to $2,000 for an aftermarket system. Yet you will continue to pay monthly and yearly for something that you think is overpriced to pay one time only. Oh, my OEM navi will continue to work in areas without cell service. Good luck with your iPhone navi without cell service.
Are you sure about that? You are paying about $100 a month to use your iPhone with unlimited data for your Navi in your pocket. That is about $1,200 per year for your Navi system in your pocket, that you continue to pay every year, every month. I paid $1,500 once for the OEM Navi option, which also included other features in the car. Decent aftermarket stereos with Navi will cost $1,000 to $1,500, and sometimes more. Add an amp, speakers and a sub and you are close to $2,000 for an aftermarket system. Yet you will continue to pay monthly and yearly for something that you think is overpriced to pay one time only. Oh, my OEM navi will continue to work in areas without cell service. Good luck with your iPhone navi without cell service.
$100 a month? Maybe you are. I pay $50 a month with Sprint for unlimited data on my 5s and my plan is not even the cheapest for unlimited. Sprint now has $45 a month unlimited plans. And yes I mean truly unlimited LTE which means no soft caps and no throttling. I used around 25GB last month for example because I went on vacation and watched a lot of HBOgo and Netflix. There are plans with many carriers for $45 a month and possibly lower. Not to mention that GPS on my phone is just an added bonus to all the other things it can do. Unless you plan on not having a phone at all you will still be paying for it monthly as well.
One of the big criticisms of built-in car nav systems was the difficulty and cost of obtaining and installing updated map info.
Last fall we took a road trip around Lake Michigan and had great Maps app service on an iPad, except for one remote 50 mile stretch in the Upper Peninsula where the signal was still limited to EDGE. In most places, AT&T was delivering 4G and LTE.
What do you base your first opinion on? Have you ever owned a car with Navi and updated it? Sounds like you never have. Map updates were easy, and when on sale, inexpensive. I bought Honda DVDs when they were on sale for $99 (instead of $149). I sold my old Map DVD on eBay and recouped half the cost or more of the new DVD. Install the new DVD and your update is done automatically. How hard is that? Current Hondas no longer use DVD drives. They are flash-memory. Map upgrades are now purchased as a USB flash drive. Plug in the flash drive and the new data is uploaded to the stereo. Why do you think that is hard to do? Map updates are not necessary every year. I bought one in 2007, and another in 2011. Your smartphone requires a monthly fee.
You confirmed the failure of smartphone navigation. No cell service, no navigation. My OEM navi would still work perfectly because it does not require cell service to operate. People who claim smartphone nav is better are full of themselves. They all get to the same address. My Honda Navi did a better job than a Garmin, which prompted multiple turns to get to one location instead of a more direct route guided by my Honda's Navi.
Portable Navis get stolen all the time because people are too lazy to remove them from the windshields. The OEM dash stereo is unlikely to ever get stolen, which is another benefit.
$100 a month? Maybe you are. I pay $50 a month with Sprint for unlimited data on my 5s and my plan is not even the cheapest for unlimited. Sprint now has $45 a month unlimited plans. And yes I mean truly unlimited LTE which means no soft caps and no throttling. I used around 25GB last month for example because I went on vacation and watched a lot of HBOgo and Netflix. There are plans with many carriers for $45 a month and possibly lower. Not to mention that GPS on my phone is just an added bonus to all the other things it can do. Unless you plan on not having a phone at all you will still be paying for it monthly as well.
If you are lucky to get Sprint service well in your area, good for you. Sprint's lowest fee is $70 per month for unlimited individual plan. You are talking about family rates, I looked it up. Sprint sucks big time in Los Angeles, with the worst coverage. What good is a phone with lousy coverage areas? Have you ever heard of a pay as you go phone? I paid $100 for a YEAR of phone service with a pay as you go phone. Smartphones are not required to survive in life. There are plenty of phone options that don't require monthly fees every month.
Yeah, big surprise, right?
1. I'm living on disability. I have almost no money at all. I gave my first (original) iPhone to my equally poor friend so she could have a decent phone and she loves it. Another close friend has her own business and just barely scrapes by, but she helped me buy my current iPhone 4 and she uses Apple product extensively.
4. Premium for "nice things"? Try again. We buy the stuff that works more often, more reliably, with greater ease (I was a tech geek all my life and I've abandoned that stupid lifestyle and abandoned tech work because it's a never-ending dead end job and pointless and expensive lifestyle). Computing devices shouldn't require so much damn management and reloading and rebuilding. Screw that. My existing self-built PC is the last PC I will ever build. If I can afford to buy a games-only computer some day (highly unlikely) that's the only way I'll even possibly buy another Windows machine. All funds I can scrape together now are dedicated to a self-contained computing appliance like a Mac of some type. In the long run, my MacBooks have cost me FAR LESS than my constantly troubled PC builds (and before you go blaming me for choosing crappy parts, I didn't; I went with the recommendations of all the other geeks, and only after buying those parts did the consensus change to reflect how junky those specific ASUS and EVGA parts were in hind sight!!). Never again!! One unified warranty, with one entity, not some pile of various parts with various warranty coverage entities! This is why I pay "more" for Apple product.
Now I just hope Apple undoes some of its foolishness with iOS 7, and doesn't trash Mac OS X the same way it trashed iOS.
I don't see the cost going down soon either as cars switch from resistive to capacitive touchscreens. CarPlay is nice, but it will shine on a display that supports swipes and multi-touch gestures.
Electronics for a car need to be a lot tougher than the equivalent for the home. Also, all cars come with at least a 3 year warranty and several, like the Hyundai, have a 5 year warranty. The cost to support that needs to be baked into the price somewhere.
Waaaay ahead of ya...
If you are lucky to get Sprint service well in your area, good for you. Sprint's lowest fee is $70 per month for unlimited individual plan. You are talking about family rates, I looked it up. Sprint sucks big time in Los Angeles, with the worst coverage. What good is a phone with lousy coverage areas? Have you ever heard of a pay as you go phone? I paid $100 for a YEAR of phone service with a pay as you go phone. Smartphones are not required to survive in life. There are plenty of phone options that don't require monthly fees every month.
No, the new framily plan rates are open to anyone including individuals, you do not need a family to get family rates. To get the $45 unlimited rate as an individual all you do is join a plan that already has 6 other people which is easy to do now since there are websites/facebook sites for people to share their ID's. Sort of similar to the way DirecTV offers reduced rates for sharing account ID's. You can check the framily ID before you join to make sure 6 are there before you join to make sure you get the $45 unlimited rate.
I agree without good coverage where you live/work/play it would be pointless to use any carrier. I was in L.A. about 4 months ago and got good service. Granted I was there only 4 days and also realize metro L.A. is a huge area and I only visited a tiny part. I get great coverage where I live so am happy with Sprint but more importantly my bill. My recent vacation was to Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach and on the 10 hour drive there and back got great LTE speeds the whole trip. I streamed Pandora and sometimes iTunes radio the whole trip.
Agreed, Pax. But having the cables and having to hookup everytime b/c of battery life is not convenient. But as u say, better than other options. The car manufacturers will put the screws to us for CarPlay-Apple's elegant solution
Well, it depends how you have it set up. My Proclip is set up with a permanent cable (pretty much completely hidden) which links directly to the radio. So I just drop the phone in the cradle as I step in (its just the default position by now). Invoke Siri and tell her what you want, and voila! I have had the same system since the long gone iPod days and for me it is the only way until I get a car with CarPlay. The feature I appreciate above all is the charging cradle - I only ever need to charge my phone at weekends if I don't use the car.
:-)
I hear ya!
However:
1. I'm being factitious
2. See #1 above
Think of it this way: CarPlay requires a screen and it competes with factory nav systems. Hyundai solves that by bundling it with their nav system, as redundant as it seems. If you want one, you have to buy everything.
Uhhh... So? Many are already equipped with navigation, anyway. It would seem a little out of character to offer such a premium feature as CarPlay on a car with manually-operated windows!
Not so. I just bought a new top of the line Accord but was able to get it without navigation, which saved me $2000. Yet I still got Siri Eyes Free and all the other luxuries. This is a short-sighted choice by Hyundai that is going to lose them sales to other manufacturers.
He DID when he was around. I want to see those drawings.
I doubt it's something we have seen/heard the last of. What with Apple's ever increasing expertise with battery technology, their work with plastics and laminates, their understanding of production, their bank balance, the fact they have a great designer and that the car market is massive...
...makes sense to me that they make an iCar.
Then a year later, Samsung will make a car with a massive windshield and then idiots will start wanting bigger and bigger windshields making the car look ridiculous.
Not so. I just bought a new top of the line Accord but was able to get it without navigation, which saved me $2000. Yet I still got Siri Eyes Free and all the other luxuries. This is a short-sighted choice by Hyundai that is going to lose them sales to other manufacturers.
The "top of the line" Accord is the Touring model which is not available without navigation which means you are at least two models below the "top of the line". Assuming you got an EX-L V6, then there are two models above what you purchased - the Touring and the EX-L V6 with navigation. I have been a big fan of Honda and have purchased four of them in the last eight years - a Civic, and Accord, and two Ridgelines. However, Honda has been experiencing problems up top for a few years now and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. The "redundant-screen" setup in the Accord has been drawing criticism for usability and reliability. Honda has lost their mojo. Their transmissions, engines, quietness (or lack thereof), refinement, and fuel economy have all been outclassed by the competition - they're riding along on their reputation for reliability and resale value from years ago. Let us not forget such oddities as the "economic" Fit which gets WORSE gas mileage on the highway than the much heavier and more powerful Accord!
Your smartphone requires a monthly fee.
...which you are already paying, so this is a silly argument. Further, if you are unhappy with any given Map application, you can switch to another one. I have Apple Maps, Google Maps, and Waze all ready to go at a moment's notice. As such, I do not think built-in auto navigation systems can hold a candle to an iPhone (or iPad or whatever portable device you choose) navigation solution, at least as far as cost and versatility go. The one area I'll give in-dash navigation the edge is ease-of-use. But boy do you pay for that. It wasn't worth $2000 to me given that I know where I am going 99% of the time.