It has been a long old wait for the first manufacture to announce Apple Wireless CarPlay in their vehicles. It was rumoured that the VW Group would be the chosen manufacture to first announce wireless support, with reports that Apple had stopped them from announcing it at this year’s CES 2016; but it is BMW that has announced the first vehicle with Wireless CarPlay support.
The seventh generation BMW 5 Series will be the German manufacture’s first volley into supporting its CarPlay connection, wirelessly. Releasing in February 2017, owners will no longer need to use a USB connection to enable Apple CarPlay onto their in-car display.
“CarPlay is available in the BMW 5 Series Sedan too. Integrating the smartphone into the vehicle’s system environment allows the phone, together with any apps that are on it, to be operated via the screen in the car by means of the iDrive Controller or touch control,” states BMW’s press release. “BMW is the first carmaker to integrate Apple CarPlay without any cables at all.”
BMW maybe the first to announce Wireless CarPlay, however it may not be the first to be redly available to us consumers. Let’s hope this, more public, announcement leads the way to more Wireless CarPlay unveilings from other manufactures, and more importantly, aftermarket stereo makers. We’re waiting guys!
[Source: BMW]
