AppleInsider Staff
In a quiet update to Apple's dedicated CarPlay webpage, legendary German automaker Porsche was added to a rolling list of companies promising support for the iOS-based infotainment system.
Porsche is the latest brand to commit to CarPlay after Apple CEO Tim Cook last month said all major car manufacturers plan to incorporate the third-party infotainment platform in models rolling out this year.
The previously unreported addition to the CarPlay lineup came sometime in mid-March, according to Internet caches of the website. Porsche owner Volkswagen Group is offering substantial CarPlay support across its marques, including Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Suzuki and Volkswagen.
It is not yet clear how or when the Stuttgart luxury brand plans to build in compatibility, as the company has already developed a fairly comprehensive in-house solution called Porsche Communication Management. PCM offers the usual assortment of niceties like GPS navigation, voice control and digital audio, but bakes in advanced features such as speed limit indicators called up from data stored in the system's navigation database.
In its fight for the dashboard, Apple faces stiff competition from stalwart industry players and fellow tech companies like Google and Microsoft. Google is pushing an Android Auto platform similar to CarPlay, while Microsoft last year saw its Sync tie-up with Ford dissolve, to be replaced by a new iteration powered by BlackBerry's QNX.
Aside from buying a new car, iPhone owners can get access to CarPlay by swapping out stock head units for compatible hardware made by aftermarket audio companies like Alpine, Parrot and Pioneer.
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28 Comments
The good news is that it should be easy to add it to any 911, since they haven't changed in 40 years.
The last update was the 991 in 2012...assuming this will be a backward retrofit as well...I have 2013 911 and the Porsche PCM is circa 2005
Apple had better stay away from high dollar brands like Porsche, lest the naysayers whine about "Tim Cook's Apple" being all about the 1%, the fashionable people, or whomever else Steve Jobs (according to their selective memories) would never cavort with.
I rather see mass market auto manufacturers like GM, Ford,Toyota,Honda,etc start adding Carplay support in their popular models.
Apple had better stay away from high dollar brands like Porsche, lest the naysayers whine about "Tim Cook's Apple" being all about the 1%, the fashionable people, or whomever else Steve Jobs (according to their selective memories) would never cavort with.
Ignoring the fact Steve drove around in a high end Mercedes, of course. And that he went around hobnobbing with the entire music industry to sell the iTunes Music Store.