Roger Fingas
BMW's controversial annual and lifetime subscription fees for Apple CarPlay are because of the demands of ongoing software testing and engineering, the automaker says.
The problem is that CarPlay needs to be tested and possibly updated every time Apple releases new software to avoid conflicts, BMW told Car and Driver. This is exacerbated by support for wireless connections, something still rare in the CarPlay world.
Automakers are still adapting to the idea of constant aftermarket support, Car and Driver noted. While it's of course necessary to offer parts and recalls, cars have traditionally been designed to operate without any other maker updates.
The arrival of CarPlay, Android Auto, and complex first-party dashboard interfaces has complicated the situation.
Toyota's 2020 Supra operates on the same technology as BMW, but the company is reportedly offering CarPlay free for four years while it decides if a subscription is warranted. It doesn't charge for the platform on any other vehicle.
BMW announced plans to charge $80 annually or $300 for 20 years in January 2018. That took effect in July, and was met with backlash. While CarPlay is sometimes reserved for more expensive trims, the vast majority of compatible vehicles are subscription-free.
Indeed the BMW strategy has caused other problems, since an outage interrupted CarPlay use earlier this year. The company's ConnectedDrive service went down, taking CarPlay subscription verification with it.
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61 Comments
I didn't know BMW was in dire financial straits it needed to nickel and dime their high end customers. If Chevrolet doesn't do it I would figure there is no reason for BMW to.
BMW is stupid. They could have increased the price of the car the same amount and made CarPlay standard and no one would have blinked an eye. Now they have a bunch of negative press.
This is hilarious and sad for a car company that once was on the top of my admiration list. At my last car purchase 3 years ago, it was exactly this arrogance and demand for extra money for CarPlay that made me pick up a Merc instead. Merc provided CarPlay/GooglePlay support as a part of its default factory package and without charge. Sorry, BMW can continue to lose sales with it as I approach my next car update cycle.
I love my BMW - but will not buy another one if they keep this up. I’m sure I am not alone. This is just stupid, greedy arrogance. And the “reason” they are now giving is because of the world wide backlash.
My Alpine aftermarket head unit includes wireless and they never charge for updates. Actually I don’t think I’ve ever gotten an update and I’ve had it for two years. I’m sure BMW charges more up front for their head unit than Alpine charges for theirs.
Found this response on Crutchfield's forum asking about firmware updates. This might be accurate but multiple people said the same thing:
"The beauty of CarPlay is that you don't need to update the headhunt. The headhunt displays what the phone wants it to. Thus when you get a new iPhone or iOS update it just works. Any software improvements are done on the phone not the head unit."
If this is accurate, then what is BMW thinking they need to update on their head unit????? I presume Android Play works the same way.