BMW has confirmed that they will be canceling their policy for charging an annual subscription fee for using Apple’s CarPlay on their in-car entertainment system.
Back in early 2018 BMW made the decision to charge an annual subscription to its owners for using CarPlay in their vehicles. This, of course, brought a lot of backlash to the German manufacturer when they asked $80 per year for a service that drivers of other CarPlay enabled vehicles were able to so for free.
The reason for the charge was that BMW incurs a cost to integrate Apple CarPlay into its existing system. It was also thought that Apple charges a license fee to makers to implement CarPlay into their entertainment systems, but that is now known not to be the case.
BMWs decision to remove their annual fee will take place immediately. Going forward, all 2019 and 2020 BMW models equipped with the latest ConnectedDrive infotainment system installed with Apple CarPlay will no longer have to pay an annual fee.
Anyone who has already paid a fee for a 2019/20 model should contact their local BMW dealer to see if they can be refunded. Owners of older BMW models, such as the i3 and i8, can pay a discounted fee of $300 for a lifetime subscription to CarPlay – which is still a kick in the nuts for BMW owners who have already paid up for this service for a few months.
I am sure BMW will like to brush this fiasco under the footwell mat, but they really should drop all costs to really redeem themselves from this.
[Source: AutoCar]
