Roger Fingas
People able to afford a BMW can now get Apple CarPlay on virtually any new model as a $300 upgrade option, according to the automaker's website.
A CarPlay upgrade is listed for most vehicles, the notable exceptions being the i3 electric and the i8 plug-in hybrid. Most hybrid and electric cars have dash displays that should, in theory, make platforms like CarPlay easy to support.
Long a CarPlay holdout, BMW first teased support in November 2015, later hinting at specific support on X- and M-series vehicles. Earlier this month, its first CarPlay-ready products turned out be the the 230i and M240i.
It's unknown why CarPlay is only available as an upgrade from BMW. Other companies, like Honda, include the option by default in some higher-end configurations of their vehicles, which are still often cheaper than BMW's lineup.
Apple is due to make significant upgrades to CarPlay with next month's launch of iOS 10, including the ability to hide and rearrange icons, and have an iPhone push a parking marker to Apple Maps when it disconnects.
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Wesley Hilliard
14 Comments
ain't that a kick in the grapes.
The high priced brands, are always like this, nickel and dime you for every little feature. Just like hotels, the cheap ones include wi-fi for free, the expensive ones charge you 20$ a day.
""It's unknown why CarPlay is only available as an upgrade"
That's an easy one: it's the way BMW does business. Many non-core features are options on BMW cars, depending on market (heated seats, folding mirrors, parking sensors, scent-injectors for the a/c). It's their way of pricing, so a basic model has a price the the customer can customise according to their priorities and wealth. If you were unkind, you could compare it to fitting a single USB-C connector on a computer and then selling adaptors so that buyers could customise their computer to connect to particular real-world peripherals. But that would be silly >:)
There are some BMW enthusiasts that pride themselves on stripped-down vehicles and others that can't live without adaptive cruise control.
And no, I didn't make-up the 'fragrance' injection to customise the smell of your cabin - it's on the 7-Series limo.
It's laughable that they made it a $300 option, but hey, at least it's an option. The more cars with carplay the better. I used it for the first time in a car rental a few days ago, and it was a VERY good experience, and easily the best in car navigation experience I've ever had.
Has anyone seen how it's integrated with the existing system?
The respective UIs are very different.