What cars have Apple wireless Carplay?
- Apple Wireless Carplay Only cars produced after 2017 with car navigation
Audi: A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, E-Tron, Q3, Q5, Q7, Q8
BMW: 2 Series coupe and convertible, X1, X2
Mini: Clubman, Convertible, Countryman,
Hardtop Mazda: Mazda6, MX-5 Miata
Porsche: 911, Cayenne, Macan, Panamera
Toyota: Supra
2. Which Cars Offer Wireless Apple CarPlay?Including hybrid vehicles,cars produced after 2017 with car navigation. Counting hybrid variants as separate cars, 27 models from three brands offer wireless Apple CarPlay for the 2019 model year, either as standard or optional equipment. The BMW Group is out ahead on the feature, offering it on all models with factory navigation across the BMW and Mini brands.
Audi: A6, A7, A8, Q8;
BMW:2 Series,3 Series,4 Series,5 Series,5 Series plug-in hybrid (530e),6 Series Gran Coupe,7 Series,7 Series plug-in hybrid (740e)
BMW i3,i8,X1,X2,X3,X4,X5,X6,X7,Z4,
Mini: Clubman,Convertible,Hardtop,Countryman,Cooper SE Countryman plug-in hybrid.
3. How Does the Connection Work?
The connection needs in-vehicle Wi-Fi, as Bluetooth alone isn’t trobust enough. The latter enables phone calls or streaming music, but it ultimately supports relatively little data. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto need a hardier connection the impetus behind a physical cable in the first place, which both systems required at inception. A Wi-Fi connection to the multimedia system through an in-vehicle router accommodates more data. It the wireless protocol that has enough bandwidth to support phone mirroring,explained David Amodeo, J.D. Power director of global automotive. The downside of such a data-intensive connection? It kills your battery. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto can exact such a heavy drain that we have observed phones tethered to older-generation USB ports lose their battery charge while using the systems, so robust charging sources are a must. Wireless charging pads have answered the call ?a feature that proliferated across the industry, especially in cars with wireless Apple CarPlay.
If My Car Already Has Wi-Fi, Could I Get Wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto?
That unlikely because it is that simple. Almost all cars with in-vehicle Wi-Fi (think GM built-in 4G LTE hot spot) have a single-band router, explained Colin Bird-Martinez, a senior tech analyst at IHS Markit. And just like good Wi-Fi at home needs a dual-band router one for phones and laptops, the other to stream Netflix any car with wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto needs unique dual-band hardware, Bird-Martinez said.
Another requirement? An in-vehicle GPS receiver, which most cars package with in-dash navigation. Even if you seldom use the car system, any smartphone connected to wireless CarPlay will hitch a ride on its GPS signal. Like the dual-band router, it all for the sake of minimizing interference.
our phone has a modem, and it also has a Wi-Fi receiver, and it also has GPS ?and if you connected to Wi-Fi and trying to use GPS at the same time, there can be interference,Bird-Martinez said. If you use using wireless [CarPlay], you must have a navigation system in your car.
For similar reasons, done expect automakers to enable conventional Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to work wirelessly down the road. Itdoubtful that many of them, if any at all, have the right hardware.
4. Apple Wireless Carplay Specifics to Note
Some caveats exist for the two lists above. For cars that offer wireless Apple CarPlay or wireless Android Auto integration, the feature may not always be standard. In many cases, automakers restrict wireless access to certain trim levels or optional packages, with conventional wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto elsewhere. In similar fashion, certain variants related to the root nameplate (a hybrid or high-performance version, for example) may also offer the feature, so l want to research the model therein for more specifics. We point out differentiations (the Golf GTI versus the regular Golf, for example) whenever possible.
Finally, this information reflects what we learned from major automakers at the time of this writing, excluding exotic or ultra-luxury brands. Technologies can, and increasingly do, change down the road as automakers incorporate cars that can accept over-the-air updates. BMW, for one, now offers wireless Android Auto in certain models via over-the-air updates to its Live Cockpit Professional and iDrive 7 interface. It possible other cars with similar capabilities may do the same, though it less likely that current models with neither Apple Wireless Carplay nor wireless Android Auto will get one or both, for reasons we lay out below.