iqatedo

M68000 said:

Has anyone considered there is already too much computerization in cars?   We’ve been watching dashboards made of quality craftsmanship being replaced by touchscreens.  Is this truly good for the automotive industry and consumer?  Do i really need all this and to know somebody texted me while i’m driving and enjoying the outside world? I actually just heard that VW and others are going back to tactile knobs and controls. There is a time to enjoy driving and a time to monitor phone. I rest my case.

Likely many drivers, myself included, would be happy with much less distraction (and I include having to look left or right to see one's speed as a distraction). Interesting then that a writer for one popular(?) EV web site claims that the greater level of functionality has been demanded by drivers. More likely EV manufacturers trying hard to differentiate their cars from the opposition. One now has hundreds of LEDs lighting up the faux grill - for whose benefit, not the owner's?

VCRandom said:

eriamjh said:

I’m confused. Is the Phone powering the car’s display of non-CarPlay apps? Is a phone required? I understand how the communication bus contains all the info that is displayed, but where does the car’s display start and end and what does CarPlay add to it? Is it just a framework for the graphics?

Right now, CarPlay is primarily an interface for your phone data to appear on a car entertainment display.

Going forward, for the car brands that support it, much of the cars performance data and 'optional' controls are funneled to the iPhone, which then take over multiple displays within the car -including the instrument cluster.

The difference is that current CarPlay runs on the entertainment portion of the car, future CarPlay takes over the instrument cluster for speed/performance info display and other car functions like taking over the heat/cooling controls, etc.

In the event CarPlay is not in use, the car has a default set of display stuff.

CarPlay is a huge deal. My view is that Apple should give these early adopters every possible assistance, including licenses sans fees and deep technical support at every level. These companies should be rewarded in every possible way for at least including CarPlay even if only at a higher level. Except for Tesla, EV manufacturers do not have the capacity to create their own driver facing operating systems and opt (almost?) entirely for android, which can be buggy, slow and ripe for hacking. The low-level real-time operating systems that control vehicle functioning have been developed over decades and are very, very refined and reliable. If only Volvo and some of the other manufacturers would offer CarPlay as an option. Apple could do very well with CarPlay even without introducing their own vehicles.

OctoMonkey said:

brianjo said:

Since they are committed to the stupid power brick, it would have made sense to add a couple USB or thunderbolt ports there as well, tidying up the desk workspace.

Hell, even better would be to move all of the brains into the brick and calling it a Mac Mini, thus making the display just a display, allowing you to upgrade the machine by replacing the brick instead of the whole machine...

The requirement of the power brick is another outstanding example of Apple's insistence on form over function...  and should have definitely been on the list of "Cons".  There is no justifiable excuse for the power brick and, for me, would reduce this from a 4/5 to a 3/5.

Love the external power brick. The iMac is better off without a mains socket.

As someone who is routinely on the road, self-powered, the Apple Watch did not exist on the two valid occasions it would have been helpful in signalling a crash. What did help immensely each time though was my helmet. Hope you have a speedy recovery Daniel.

radarthekat said:

How exactly were these people harmed?  Can all 24 million show that they upgraded sooner than they otherwise would have?  Can they all show that they actually observed slow performance on occasions when that would have had a material adverse affect or would have been worse than having their phone suddenly cut off (had Apple not throttled the speed)?  This is pathetic and ridiculous.  

This should never have been an issue. Phones are systems of things and what Apple did was manage some of those things in such a way that performance (lifetime) was improved. Those people had their product improved. Blah. (Apple, feel free to call on me as an expert witness  )