Hands-on: Apple CarPlay goes wireless over Wi-Fi with Alpine's iLX-107 receiver

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in General Discussion
Alpine's CarPlay integration in its upcoming iLX-107 receiver uses Wi-Fi direct, rather than Bluetooth, allowing for a higher quality experience with negligible effect on battery life.




Representatives from Alpine told AppleInsider at CES on Saturday that there is no discernible drain on battery when using CarPlay wirelessly over Wi-Fi.

The Alpine iLX-107 receiver uses Bluetooth as a trigger to change over to 5GHz Wi-Fi direct for CarPlay. Call audio is routed over Wi-Fi as well.

Alpine has also updated its menus and system displays to match Apple's interface. For example, the onscreen volume display mimics Apple's own volume controls shown on screen in iOS.




The iLX-107 also controls add-on car accessories such as lights, cameras, truck bed covers, and more.

By default, Alpine's system will pair with the most-used device in the car, not the last-used.




The unit does not include a CD/DVD tray, though it is available as an optional add-on. Alpine representatives said they don't believe most customers will need it.




Alpine's iLX-107 will launch this February for $900. CarPlay is compatible with iPhone 5 and later.

For more, see, AppleInsider's ongoing coverage of CES 2017.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    doozydozendoozydozen Posts: 539member
    What sound level is "16 text?" Lol.
    Also, Alpine's iOS inspired UI looks like garbage! Is it really all that hard to mimic good design? Take Apline's Camera app icon for example, what compelled them to use 3 jellybean colored traffic cones that are transparent?? Blows my mind how ugly they choose to make things. 
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 2 of 21
    indiekidukindiekiduk Posts: 381member
    Yep ugly and low-res, waste of time thinking about. A joke really, compared to the Tesla's display.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 3 of 21
    adrayvenadrayven Posts: 460member
    indiekiduk said:
    Yep ugly and low-res, waste of time thinking about. A joke really, compared to the Tesla's display.
    Yeah, Alpine's iLX-107 for $900 + install vs a Tesla for $80,000 to $100,000 ... hmm... whats the bargain here? DURRRRR, this is for existing cars to upgrade .. not for those with a stupid amount of money to waste on a Tesla..
    edited January 2017 StrangeDaysrezwitswilliamlondonGeorgeBMacmdriftmeyermike1
  • Reply 4 of 21
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    repressthis said:
    What sound level is "16 text?" Lol.
    Yeah I wondered what that meant...More evidence of awesome auto industry software engineering? 
  • Reply 5 of 21
    jgreg728jgreg728 Posts: 100member
    I'll care when Apple actually updates CarPlay not to be a buggy POS. IOS 10 killed this feature. 
    williamlondon
  • Reply 6 of 21
    2old4fun2old4fun Posts: 239member
    jgreg728 said:
    I'll care when Apple actually updates CarPlay not to be a buggy POS. IOS 10 killed this feature. 
    Interesting as I am running 10.2.1 and for me CarPlay is better than ever. I would not have a vehicle that did not support CarPlay.
    badmonktechprod1gy
  • Reply 7 of 21
    jdowningjdowning Posts: 1member
    The "Text" looks like it's part of the image rather than the Alpine display. It's a bit darker and crisper than and not precisely aligned with the "16". Maybe that's obvious and y'all are just having some fun....
    rezwits
  • Reply 8 of 21
    wozwozwozwoz Posts: 263member
    Why would you want to radiate the inside of a car ... which bounces all the signals around like a sardine in can ... with wi-fi crap that can nuke your brain? 
    rezwits
  • Reply 9 of 21
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    wozwoz said:
    Why would you want to radiate the inside of a car ... which bounces all the signals around like a sardine in can ... with wi-fi crap that can nuke your brain? 
    Because the frequency and intensity of the signal are not in the range where they'll do any harm. You are exposed to many millions of times more damaging radiation from the sun just walking from the house to the car.

    Turning off all our devices will not suddenly render the world free of RF. It exists naturally in our environment. We're designed to survive it. For a while.
    redgeminipadjkfishernetmagemike1
  • Reply 10 of 21
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,054member
    adrayven said:
    Yep ugly and low-res, waste of time thinking about. A joke really, compared to the Tesla's display.
    Yeah, Alpine's iLX-107 for $900 + install vs a Tesla for $80,000 to $100,000 ... hmm... whats the bargain here? DURRRRR, this is for existing cars to upgrade .. not for those with a stupid amount of money to waste on a Tesla..
    A person with elementary knowledge should know that he can't compare an auto entertainment unit with the whole car. If you want to compare, do that vs Tesla's 17" display, not the car!
    btw, if a person spends $80k-$100k on Mercedes S-class, it's not a waste in your opinion? Your ill thinking really made me laugh.
    edited January 2017 williamlondondjkfisher
  • Reply 11 of 21
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Wireless?
    Yawn...  It's nice on occasion.   But 98% of the time I plug my phone into my audio system's USB port via a lightening cord anyway just to charge it.
    macxpress
  • Reply 12 of 21
    djkfisherdjkfisher Posts: 131member
    2old4fun said:
    jgreg728 said:
    I'll care when Apple actually updates CarPlay not to be a buggy POS. IOS 10 killed this feature. 
    Interesting as I am running 10.2.1 and for me CarPlay is better than ever. I would not have a vehicle that did not support CarPlay.
    Yep I would agree. I am not having any problem with it, works perfectly. Personally, I think it is the user :)
  • Reply 13 of 21
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    Wireless?
    Yawn...  It's nice on occasion.   But 98% of the time I plug my phone into my audio system's USB port via a lightening cord anyway just to charge it.
    This! Plus, 99.9% of the time wired is always better than wireless. It will work better, be more reliable, and more stable than wireless. And, as George said, it also charges your phone while you use it. I'd like to know how much battery CarPlay uses wirelessly, especially when using something like Maps. The nice thing some cars are coming with to compliment wireless CarPlay are these wireless charging pads, but even then those are few and far between, and require a special case. 

    Is it really that hard folks to take your phone out of your pocket and plug it in? Are we really getting that lazy today???
    edited January 2017
  • Reply 14 of 21
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    I assume this jacks directly into the interface of say a Honda Accord that is not native to CarPlay, thus giving me a clear sound connection to my iPhone on-device catalog? If so, great. Just what I need.
  • Reply 15 of 21
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    jgreg728 said:
    I'll care when Apple actually updates CarPlay not to be a buggy POS. IOS 10 killed this feature. 
    Works great in a 2017 Honda Civic. Maybe it's you or your car.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 16 of 21
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    jdowning said:
    The "Text" looks like it's part of the image rather than the Alpine display. It's a bit darker and crisper than and not precisely aligned with the "16". Maybe that's obvious and y'all are just having some fun....
    Maybe, but it confused the heck outta me. I couldn't figure out if it was a placeholder in the photo-posting system that someone forgot to erase (probably easy to do in the middle of CES information overload) or if it's actually on the display being photographed. For same reasons you cite, I'm making the same assumption you did. If we're wrong, Alpine may have a QC problem! :)

  • Reply 17 of 21
    redefilerredefiler Posts: 323member
    indiekiduk said:
    Yep ugly and low-res, waste of time thinking about. A joke really, compared to the Tesla's display.
    Ugly and low-Rez should match perfectly with the Tesla's exterior and interior styling.  

    Bit pricey for Nissan quality looks and handling.  But yes, they did put a modest off-brand quality iPad in the dash.
  • Reply 18 of 21
    badmonkbadmonk Posts: 1,293member
    I have the first generation 007 in my near twenty year old Subaru and it works great.  It has given me the tried and true dependability of my old car with Apple CarPlay-- the best of both worlds.  I honestly like it better than the new Subarus they loan me when my car is in service which have buggy smart phone interfaces.

    I don't mind plugging it into a USB cable to allow simultaneous charging...not a hassle.

    It was a steal at $700 plus installation.
  • Reply 19 of 21
    techprod1gytechprod1gy Posts: 838member
    2old4fun said:
    jgreg728 said:
    I'll care when Apple actually updates CarPlay not to be a buggy POS. IOS 10 killed this feature. 
    Interesting as I am running 10.2.1 and for me CarPlay is better than ever. I would not have a vehicle that did not support CarPlay.
    I would agree that CarPlay is very good from my personal use. Items to improve? Yes. Hardly a POS.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    wozwoz said:
    Why would you want to radiate the inside of a car ... which bounces all the signals around like a sardine in can ... with wi-fi crap that can nuke your brain? 
    You post this all the time, but you've yet to link to any peer-reviewed science that backs up the assertion that wifi is killings us. So, sounds like crap FUD to me. 
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