The 2017 BMW 5 Series sedan may beat the aftermarket in bringing wireless CarPlay to market.
With wireless CarPlay there’s no need to plug your phone into the radio every time you enter the car. Instead the radio recognizes your phone for easy access to maps, music, messages and more.
The new BMW 5 Series will be available in February. To date, no aftermarket radio company has announced wireless CarPlay, although new models could certainly crop up between now and the CES show in January.
Wireless CarPlay to our knowledge works over WiFi, thereby requiring a radio with WiFi capability, a feature not yet common in the aftermarket.
The 5 Series infotainment system also provides wireless Qi inductive phone charging and a WiFi hotspot for up to 10 devices.
The car also has a 10.25 inch touchscreen.
In January, Volkswagen reportedly attempted to show wireless CarPlay at CES 2016, but was blocked from doing so by Apple.
Source: BMW, AppleInsider
Look at it this way…
– first off, we’re talking about Apple…they are in the driver’s seat here…always have been, always will be
– aftermarket and OE will always be at the mercy of Apple…they dictate what gets release to who and when
– Apple is ALL ABOUT user experience, and they won’t leave that in the hands of either party
– aftermarket will continue to struggle in the integration space, not from a technology or capability standpoint, but in a market-acceptable standpoint…we have re-entered the era of switching tape to cd, but this time it’s traditional car audio to media-rich car audio…Apple and/or Google have the right to be skittish on how this “roll-out” is to be handled
– lastly, it’s consumers that are pushing the car manufacturers to double-down on in-car tech and full device integration…phones have become an appendage of ourselves, and this single piece of technology has and will continue to influence future purchases, even the car we drive…and that is a powerful thing (R.I.P. Steve Jobs)!
Is Alpine making this?
Could it be that this is an indicator…
– OE feels it does not need the aftermarket to test application, user interface or reliability
– Traditional tier one OE suppliers are not leading the “what does the consumer want in a car” but the car makers are now leading that conversation
– The new guys in the OE supplier category have surpassed the traditional tier one OE suppliers in their knowledge and understanding of the new car consumer
– These new guys sense the “consumer aftermarket experience” is a drag on the initial consumer acceptance of these technologies; (I don’t think that Ford has had such an experience…)
I wonder if a re-think of how the aftermarket views its position in the supply/food chain is in order…?