First BMW vehicles with Apple's CarPlay coming later in 2016

AppleInsider · May 20, 2016 4:31PM

BMW -- one of the few major automakers without support for Apple's CarPlay -- should finally begin offering the technology later this year through two new vehicles, according to an official pricelist.

The German-language document takes effect in August, and mentions CarPlay support as an option for X5M and X6M models, Bimmerpost noted. Those vehicles will also get 10.25-inch touchscreens, offering one of the largest native CarPlay interfaces. The list moreover hints at possible wireless CarPlay support, referring to "wireless and convenient use of the iPhone in your vehicle via Apple CarPlay." This has been feasible since iOS 9 debuted last year, but has so far yet to make it into a shipping car. Either way, CarPlay support is mentioned as arriving in the second half of 2016. BMW is still missing from Apple's official partner list, but that may have to wait for an announcement or the new vehicles actually shipping. Although automakers were initially slow to support the standard, CarPlay is now available -- or coming soon -- from most major automakers, such as Ford, Honda, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, and BMW's most direct rival, Mercedes-Benz. A greater issue for buyers has been cost, because many CarPlay-ready vehicles are mid- to high-end models, and/or require a package upgrade. Most models are also too new to reach people in the used market.

nolamacguy · May 20, 2016 4:50PM

AppleInsider said:

BMW -- one of the few major automakers without support for Apple's CarPlay

again ill note that while looking for a car last week, none of the models from Toyota, Honda or Subaru I test drove had CarPlay. select models only, evidently. doesnt do me much good, automakers.

applesauce007 · May 20, 2016 5:23PM

How about a software update for older models?

wood1208 · May 20, 2016 5:29PM

First, no one should buy a vehicle without CarPlay. Because, we don't replace car like phone. People keep car over a decade so make sure you have carplay and androidauto supported by your car manufacturers.Honda Civic has it but people asking for wireless carplay connectivity than USB. I am sure wireless(wifi or bluetooth) wiill come in next generation of vehicles for those started with USB..

paxman · May 20, 2016 5:46PM

wood1208 said:

First, no one should buy a vehicle without CarPlay. Because, we don't replace car like phone. People keep car over a decade so make sure you have carplay and androidauto supported by your car manufacturers.Honda Civic has it but people asking for wireless carplay connectivity than USB. I am sure wireless(wifi or bluetooth) wiill come in next generation of vehicles for those started with USB..

Wireless is good but any car with Carplay should, imo, come with a usb cradle / holder that will both connect the phone to the Carplay unit and also charge the phone. If you take your phone out of your pocket, or if you usually carry it in your hand you are going to want to put it somewhere. A conveniently placed charging cradle would be that place and if you use your car to and from work as well as the odd errand it will be a rare occasion that you'll need to plug it in at home or at the office.

volcan · May 20, 2016 6:27PM

paxman said:

Wireless is good but any car with Carplay should, imo, come with a usb cradle / holder that will both connect the phone to the Carplay unit and also charge the phone.

BMW comes with ConnectedDrive which actually has a built in SIM used for various services like realtime traffic, emergencies, maintenance schedules, etc. When you put your iPhone in the cradle (optional) it connects to the car's cellular antenna mounted on the roof which significantly improves your call quality.

mike1 · May 20, 2016 6:28PM

Anybody who understands the development cycle of a new car, knows that implementing Car Play is not going to happen as quickly as some would hope.

nolamacguy · May 20, 2016 6:31PM

wood1208 said:

First, no one should buy a vehicle without CarPlay. Because, we don't replace car like phone. People keep car over a decade so make sure you have carplay and androidauto supported by your car manufacturers.Honda Civic has it but people asking for wireless carplay connectivity than USB. I am sure wireless(wifi or bluetooth) wiill come in next generation of vehicles for those started with USB..

i bought a car without it. at the end of the day, its one feature among many.

tho im leasing so ill reconsider the issue in a few years -- hopefully these clowns will get it together by then. the Subaru Link system (or whatever its called) is terrible. chunky 2000s UI on its capacitive touchscreen. and i can't even send an address from my phone to it.

anantksundaram · May 20, 2016 8:01PM

mike1 said:

Anybody who understands the development cycle of a new car, knows that implementing Car Play is not going to happen as quickly as some would hope.

Since you apparently understand this development cycle, why don't you tell us.

anantksundaram · May 20, 2016 8:05PM

nolamacguy said:

wood1208 said:

First, no one should buy a vehicle without CarPlay. Because, we don't replace car like phone. People keep car over a decade so make sure you have carplay and androidauto supported by your car manufacturers.Honda Civic has it but people asking for wireless carplay connectivity than USB. I am sure wireless(wifi or bluetooth) wiill come in next generation of vehicles for those started with USB..

i bought a car without it. at the end of the day, its one feature among many.

tho im leasing so ill reconsider the issue in a few years -- hopefully these clowns will get it together by then. the Subaru Link system (or whatever its called) is terrible. chunky 2000s UI on its capacitive touchscreen. and i can't even send an address from my phone to it.

I am very disappointed by the slow adoption of CarPlay by higher-end carmakers, and even when they do, its availability in just a handful of models. I thought I'd wait until the 2016 models were announced, then decided to wait one more year for the 2017s.

Now the latter are starting to come in. So far, pickings look slim, and yet I am really rearing to buy a new vehicle.

Looks like I'll settle too, and end up buying my next car without CarPlay. That should take me through 2020, by when I hope Apple will have .....

volcan · May 20, 2016 8:18PM

anantksundaram said:
I am very disappointed by the slow adoption of CarPlay by higher-end carmakers,

Mercedes has five models that offer CarPlay. My next vehicle is going to be Suburban and it already has CarPlay. I have one more year on my BMW so CarPlay hopefully be available in the sedans by then when I upgrade.

unbeliever2 · May 20, 2016 8:55PM

I'm getting an Audi A4 with (USB) CarPlay, but it also has a wifi hotspot, so I'm hopeful that wifi CarPlay will be added in a future software update.

ipilya · May 20, 2016 9:51PM

The VW Group has CarPlay in numerous models.... Seat for example has it in the Ibiza and Leon as well as other models. Very excited by the new A3 and Q2. Sadly it seems that the A1 is being left out this year.... Not sure why Audi is taking a slower approach. The actual VW company has CarPlay available in every model now I believe - for sure in the Golf and Polo. But I guess the VW Group is not for everyone.... though they seem to be the most progressive from what I am reading here.

command_f · May 20, 2016 11:07PM

anantksundaram said:

nolamacguy said:

i bought a car without it. at the end of the day, its one feature among many.

tho im leasing so ill reconsider the issue in a few years -- hopefully these clowns will get it together by then. the Subaru Link system (or whatever its called) is terrible. chunky 2000s UI on its capacitive touchscreen. and i can't even send an address from my phone to it.

I am very disappointed by the slow adoption of CarPlay by higher-end carmakers, and even when they do, its availability in just a handful of models. I thought I'd wait until the 2016 models were announced, then decided to wait one more year for the 2017s.

Now the latter are starting to come in. So far, pickings look slim, and yet I am really rearing to buy a new vehicle.

Looks like I'll settle too, and end up buying my next car without CarPlay. That should take me through 2020, by when I hope Apple will have .....

To my surprise, my non-Carplay 2016 BMW does interface to Siri. When the phone is connected over Bluetooth for hands-free telephone operation, my voice-control button on the steering wheel causes Siri to "wake up" and accept commands through the car's audio system (and microphone). It's a small but useful step.

nolamacguy · May 21, 2016 12:51AM

mike1 said:

Anybody who understands the development cycle of a new car, knows that implementing Car Play is not going to happen as quickly as some would hope.

please explain why its taking them so much longer than Pioneer and Alpine? it's a screen, with an interface, and an API.

nolamacguy · May 21, 2016 12:54AM

anantksundaram said:

nolamacguy said:

i bought a car without it. at the end of the day, its one feature among many.

tho im leasing so ill reconsider the issue in a few years -- hopefully these clowns will get it together by then. the Subaru Link system (or whatever its called) is terrible. chunky 2000s UI on its capacitive touchscreen. and i can't even send an address from my phone to it.

I am very disappointed by the slow adoption of CarPlay by higher-end carmakers, and even when they do, its availability in just a handful of models. I thought I'd wait until the 2016 models were announced, then decided to wait one more year for the 2017s.

Now the latter are starting to come in. So far, pickings look slim, and yet I am really rearing to buy a new vehicle.

Looks like I'll settle too, and end up buying my next car without CarPlay. That should take me through 2020, by when I hope Apple will have .....

yeah my thinking was the same. we'll see what Apple has on the market then. how pathetic would it be for the world's automakers if Apple comes out w/ a full automobile not longer after they finally can get a dumb-terminal-mode programmed into their head units. it's absurd.

Subaru is only offering CarPlay in 2017, on a single model. what. the fuck. thats absurd.

and despite what "Mike1" has to say, I'm an actual software developer -- as in, i pay my mortgage by writing compiled code. this stuff isn't rocket science...the limited scenario of an audio system in controlled hardware sounds much easier than the crap i have to code for.

anantksundaram · May 21, 2016 4:05AM

ipilya said:

The VW Group has CarPlay in numerous models.... Seat for example has it in the Ibiza and Leon as well as other models. Very excited by the new A3 and Q2. Sadly it seems that the A1 is being left out this year.... Not sure why Audi is taking a slower approach. The actual VW company has CarPlay available in every model now I believe - for sure in the Golf and Polo. But I guess the VW Group is not for everyone.... though they seem to be the most progressive from what I am reading here.

There's only one problem with VW (and its subsidiaries, Audi and Porsche). They're utter liars and cheaters. My wife owned a Touareg, I owned a Q7. Both now gone, thankfully. I will never buy anything from this company again. Period.

Jpgermany · May 21, 2016 6:09AM

Being reasonable well connected to some car makers here in Germany there is a very simple explanation why CarPlay or the Android equivalent is being adopted really slowly and always as a bit of an afterthought. The car manufacturers do not want to hand over the UI to anyone else. It's key to their core competence and allowing Apple or Google to own it and the data generated by it is threatening to their business model. Besides, the BMW interface is pretty good in itself

anantksundaram · May 21, 2016 1:35PM

Jpgermany said:

Besides, the BMW interface is pretty good in itself

I am sorry. It's truly atrocious. (I own a 535 xi GT).

But I'll grant that it's better than Audi's.

gatorguy · May 21, 2016 7:45PM

command_f said:

anantksundaram said:

nolamacguy said:

i bought a car without it. at the end of the day, its one feature among many.

tho im leasing so ill reconsider the issue in a few years -- hopefully these clowns will get it together by then. the Subaru Link system (or whatever its called) is terrible. chunky 2000s UI on its capacitive touchscreen. and i can't even send an address from my phone to it.

I am very disappointed by the slow adoption of CarPlay by higher-end carmakers, and even when they do, its availability in just a handful of models. I thought I'd wait until the 2016 models were announced, then decided to wait one more year for the 2017s.

Now the latter are starting to come in. So far, pickings look slim, and yet I am really rearing to buy a new vehicle.

Looks like I'll settle too, and end up buying my next car without CarPlay. That should take me through 2020, by when I hope Apple will have .....

To my surprise, my non-Carplay 2016 BMW does interface to Siri. When the phone is connected over Bluetooth for hands-free telephone operation, my voice-control button on the steering wheel causes Siri to "wake up" and accept commands through the car's audio system (and microphone). It's a small but useful step.

My wife's Mazda does the same thing, as I'm sure a lot of vehicles do. We can "wake" our phones, navigate to addresses/contacts/etc, play music, send texts, set reminders and a few other things all with voice only, never touching our phones. Still it's not Carplay or Android Auto as we're stuck with built in maps on the car display, and while we can have messages read aloud and respond to them we can't show them on the "big screen".

disneylandman · May 23, 2016 12:16AM

nolamacguy said:

AppleInsider said:

BMW -- one of the few major automakers without support for Apple's CarPlay

again ill note that while looking for a car last week, none of the models from Toyota, Honda or Subaru I test drove had CarPlay. select models only, evidently. doesnt do me much good, automakers.

I guess you did not look very hard. Both the Civic and Accord 2016 EX and higher models have CarPlay standard, along with AndroidAuto. The base models do not have it because they have a basic stereo, not the 7" DisplayAudio head unit. If you insist on buying a basic bottom end model of any car, you will never have that feature. Buying a vehicle because of CarPlay or AndroidAuto is a stupid reason. I can already do all the 'CarPlay' features in my 2015 Altima with Navigation, and do it better because of Bluetooth HandsFree. No need to plug in a USB cable. Siri handles all the features, so CarPlay is just eye candy on a screen. Also, the OEM Navigation systems (or Waze) won't get you lost like Apple Maps. The people here should be smart enough to know how to use their Bluetooth features in their current car and know that CarPlay won't do anything more than they can already do now. Or maybe they are driving old cars with cassette decks and no bluetooth. It took Honda two years to get their act together, and their stereos are complete crap. Their horrible interior design now makes it nearly impossible to replace their crap stereo, so you want a buy a car and be stuck with that?

First BMW vehicles with Apple's CarPlay coming later in 2016

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