BMW to charge annual fee for Apple CarPlay integration

prizrak

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Just to prove that they are in fact the biggest assholes in the automotive business BMW is going to charge an annual access fee to charge for a feature that is already built into their infotainment system. Now granted $80/year is not a lot of money but just the thought of having to "subscribe" to something that is built in and doesn't require any additional services is fucked up.
AppleInsider said:
Currently, BMW offers CarPlay as a $300 option on car models with built-in navigation systems. Starting next year, however, BMW owners will need to pay $80 per year for the luxury, reports The Verge.

Don Smith, technology product manager for BMW North America, revealed the new pricing strategy at the Detroit Auto Show on Tuesday, framing the subscription model as a more flexible alternative to single purchase activation.

"This allows the customer to switch devices," Smith said. "A lot of people buy [CarPlay] and think its okay, but sometimes they stop using it or switch to Android."

The new plan grants free access to CarPlay for the first year of ownership on a new BMW model, after which the $80 per year fee comes into play. Smith points out that, for a three- or four-year lease, the subscription plan is less expensive than BMW's current one-time fee. However, customers who purchase outright could pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for CarPlay over the course of a car's lifetime.

BMW is one of a handful of carmakers that charge for CarPlay access. The German firm jumped on the CarPlay bandwagon in 2016, and later that year debuted the first car to employ a wireless variant of Apple's infotainment system.

Apple provides auto companies access to CarPlay software if built-in infotainment systems meet a certain set of criteria, mainly relating to touchscreen and connectivity hardware.

Smith said BMW plans to diversify its virtual assistant integrations in 2018 with the addition of Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa.
 
Their infotainment system will probably get hacked pretty quickly. People would pay for a "modchip" to disable that BS over yearly fees.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't FCA charge for this on the Uconnect? Unfortunately my 2016 was a year too early for that feature. On a related note they charge too much for maps so I'm going to pickup a 2017-2018 unit from a totaled vehicle and it will have that CarPlay thing as a bonus.
 
That's going to do *wonders* for their resale value in this tech-heavy marketplace in a few years. :rolleyes:
 
JCE;n3544368 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't FCA charge for this on the Uconnect? Unfortunately my 2016 was a year too early for that feature. On a related note they charge too much for maps so I'm going to pickup a 2017-2018 unit from a totaled vehicle and it will have that CarPlay thing as a bonus.

No idea, I'm OK with a one time fee to enable functionality its the subscription that I have beef with.
 
I'll give it 6 months before the system gets jailbroken.
 
JCE;n3544368 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't FCA charge for this on the Uconnect? Unfortunately my 2016 was a year too early for that feature. On a related note they charge too much for maps so I'm going to pickup a 2017-2018 unit from a totaled vehicle and it will have that CarPlay thing as a bonus.

They do not. CarPlay/Android Auto is included as standard on the latest UConnect systems - they did a slow rollout with the 300/Charger getting it first IIRC.
 
rickhamilton620;n3544804 said:
They do not. CarPlay/Android Auto is included as standard on the latest UConnect systems - they did a slow rollout with the 300/Charger getting it first IIRC.

Cool beans thanks Rick. :)
 
JCE;n3544368 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't FCA charge for this on the Uconnect? Unfortunately my 2016 was a year too early for that feature. On a related note they charge too much for maps so I'm going to pickup a 2017-2018 unit from a totaled vehicle and it will have that CarPlay thing as a bonus.

FCA doesn't charge for the system itself, but if you have a vehicle that has Uconnect Access you get the first year for free and then you need to pay. Uconnect Access lets you do stuff like send a satnav destination from your phone to your car, remote start your car from your phone, unlock your car, etc. Ford does the same thing with Ford Sync Connect/FordPass, but you get 5 years free. Not many Chrysler products have CarPlay/AndroidAuto yet - most are getting them for MY18.

I don't know. I've said in the past that I think those phone integration systems are more of a gimmick and now with more exposure, I maintain that this is correct. They're very limiting and very clunky with their integration to the vehicle. And integration to the vehicle is the critical part here because so many other vehicle controls live on the touch screen that it needs to be seamless. Getting from CarPlay to climate controls or even radio controls needs to be easy, but as the systems are structured today, its several button presses.

Also, I can't say I blame BMW. They spend a ton of money developing their own navigation system. They spend a ton of money developing their own UI. They spend a ton of money developing their own controls. Then they pay Apple and Google to come in and put an interface on top of all that. And then they get blamed when something doesn't work as it should and have to deal with warranty claims from dealers. So yeah, of course they want to recover some of their money. Is it shitty to charge for something that Ford/Chevy/Honda/Kia give you for free? Yes. Is it unexpected? No. Do I think more car companies will start doing the same? Yes.

One last thought in this disconnected rambling, think of backwards comparability in the future. People get new phones a lot more often than they get new cars. How well will your 2022 iPhone X4s Plus work in your CarPlay equipped 2016 VW Passat. My guess is not great.
 
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Because CarPlay and Android Auto live on your phone, as cars get older they should have no problem interacting with newer phones.

I tried Android Auto in a rental Sonic a few years ago - it works well enough but skews almost too conservative as far as locking you out while the vehicle is in motion.

EX: I couldn’t seem to get to more than a few of my playlists on Spotify. It only lets you get 6 taps in before locking out. I tried voice commands but because I wasn’t sure of the syntax to use I got nowhere.

I havent seen CarPlay’s Spotify implementation but it just feels like CarPlay let’s you drill deeper. On the other hand, due to apple’s arbitrary rules on “duplicate functionality” apps, Google Maps isn’t available in CarPlay and we all know how shitty Apple Maps is.

I still think theres room for (and value within) carmaker built experiences, there’s great ones out at the moment and due to the aforementioned limitations it’s easier sometimes to pair via BT, get a suction mount and keep moving.

I think BMW is getting away with it because they’re a luxo brand that’s always nickeled and dimed shoppers to death. Want power seats? A few hundred bucks please! Want to carry some flat pack furniture in your 3 series? That’ll be a few hundred more so you can get a folding rear seat.

A mainstream brand charging for AA/CarPlay in the states just sounds like a terrible idea from a brand perspective. Look at Toyota, every review shat on Entune for not supporting AA/CarPlay and called their partial solution (working with TeleNav to pimp their Scout GPS app that runs on your USB connected phone and is pushed to the screen) a joke and halfassed in nature.

Seeing the writing on the wall, the new Avalon is launching with CarPlay support. I suspect they’re only supporting CarPlay due to their supposed reason being ignoring both AA/CarPlay in the first place - user data privacy. A noble effort if true but the market has spoke.
 
Benefit of phone integration such as CarPlay/AA is that it's always as up to date as your phone's software is, car software is much less flexible that way and is often simply abandoned after 2-3 years since there is no value for the manufacturer to offer updates rather than sell you a whole new vehicle. Personally I want all infotainment systems to act as external screens and speakers to my phone, would also have a benefit of having a familiar interface no matter what car you are in.
 
For tax reasons I kinda approve, assuming the tax man doesn't wise up. I'm taxed based on the list price, so stuff not bought but rather subscribed should skirt that :D
 
CrzRsn;n3544826 said:
FCA doesn't charge for the system itself, but if you have a vehicle that has Uconnect Access you get the first year for free and then you need to pay. Uconnect Access lets you do stuff like send a satnav destination from your phone to your car, remote start your car from your phone, unlock your car, etc. Ford does the same thing with Ford Sync Connect/FordPass, but you get 5 years free. Not many Chrysler products have CarPlay/AndroidAuto yet - most are getting them for MY18.

I don't know. I've said in the past that I think those phone integration systems are more of a gimmick and now with more exposure, I maintain that this is correct. They're very limiting and very clunky with their integration to the vehicle. And integration to the vehicle is the critical part here because so many other vehicle controls live on the touch screen that it needs to be seamless. Getting from CarPlay to climate controls or even radio controls needs to be easy, but as the systems are structured today, its several button presses.

Also, I can't say I blame BMW. They spend a ton of money developing their own navigation system. They spend a ton of money developing their own UI. They spend a ton of money developing their own controls. Then they pay Apple and Google to come in and put an interface on top of all that. And then they get blamed when something doesn't work as it should and have to deal with warranty claims from dealers. So yeah, of course they want to recover some of their money. Is it shitty to charge for something that Ford/Chevy/Honda/Kia give you for free? Yes. Is it unexpected? No. Do I think more car companies will start doing the same? Yes.

One last thought in this disconnected rambling, think of backwards comparability in the future. People get new phones a lot more often than they get new cars. How well will your 2022 iPhone X4s Plus work in your CarPlay equipped 2016 VW Passat. My guess is not great.

Personally, I think this stuff should be more of a second display to your phone rather than trying to do the same job with another interface where the data is pulled from the phone. That way, as long as your phone supports "protocol 224" for example, your stuff will work. All the work is being handled by your device. Use Google Cast and whatever apple calls theirs.
 
93Flareside;n3545753 said:
Personally, I think this stuff should be more of a second display to your phone rather than trying to do the same job with another interface where the data is pulled from the phone. That way, as long as your phone supports "protocol 224" for example, your stuff will work. All the work is being handled by your device. Use Google Cast and whatever apple calls theirs.

The thing is, that interface isn’t optimized for use in the car. Tiny touch targets that appear usable with your phone in hand are harder to operate on the move.
 

But they didn't just let it go, either. They're still going to try to screw owners even as they phase it out - from the article:

Now, a BMW spokesperson claims, the system will be free for the lifetime of the car on all models operating the latest infotainment system. Models that aren’t, such as the i3, i8 and runout examples of the 2 Series and 4 Series, will need to pay £235 for a lifetime subscription.
 
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