Mexican Media Brands
BMW Charges Owners for Apple CarPlay Interface
Contrary to other carmakers, which offer Apple and Android smartphone interfaces for free, BMW AG is charging vehicle owners for Apple CarPlay.
#electronics
Share
Contrary to other carmakers, which offer Apple and Android smartphone interfaces for free, BMW AG is charging vehicle owners for Apple CarPlay.
BMW currently offers CarPlay on select models for free for the first year. But customers must pay a one-time charge of $300 after the initial trial period.
Starting this summer, owners of 2019- and 2020-model Bimmers can subscribe to CarPlay annually for $80 or pay $300 for the service for the life of the vehicle. The free one-year trial remains.
BMW claims the fee helps keep the sticker price of its pricey luxury vehicles down. The carmaker doesn’t offer Google’s Android Auto system.
Launched in 2014, CarPlay is offered in more than 500 nameplates worldwide across 60 brands, according to Apple. The system allows users to access various iPhone functions directly through a vehicle’s infotainment system.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Honda Re-Imagines and Re-Engineers the Ridgeline
When Honda announced the first-generation Ridgeline in 2005, it opened the press release describing the vehicle: “The Honda Ridgeline re-defines what a truck can be with its true half-ton bed payload capability, an interior similar to a full-size truck and the exterior length of a compact truck.” And all that said, people simply couldn’t get over the way there is a diagonal piece, a sail-shaped buttress, between the cab and the box.
-
2018 Ford EcoSport: Small Is the New Big
Eric Loeffler, chief program engineer for the 2018 Ford EcoSport, recalls driving home from work one day from the product development center in Brazil where work was underway on developing the vehicle that will be coming to the U.S. in 2018, having been launched in 2003 in South America and is now become available in 140 countries around the world.
-
Magna Advances Seating Configurations
Magna International is focusing on electrification, autonomy and smart mobility. This is taking the form of things ranging from an electrified system for rear axles (eDrive 1.0) to a collaborative arrangement with Lyft, which includes the co-development and manufacture of self-driving systems.
