Mazda Remains Committed to Introducing CarPlay But Still Won't Say When

[MacRumors]

Toyota and Lexus today confirmed that CarPlay will be available in select 2019-and-later vehicles, making Mazda one of the only recognizable automakers without support for Apple's in-car software platform in the United States.

Many of our readers commented or tweeted to ask if and when Mazda will ever support CarPlay, so we reached out to the company for an update.

MacRumors received the following statement from Mazda spokesperson Jacob Brown today ensuring that it still plans to offer CarPlay. Unfortunately, it still isn't willing to share any additional details at this time.

We remain committed to introducing the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technologies to our vehicles, designing them to interface with our MAZDA CONNECT infotainment system in a manner that promotes a focus on the driving experience. We cannot provide timing or any additional details at this time.

Mazda made a similar promise a few times last year. Last March, for example, the automaker told Cars.com that CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility was in the works, and noted the software platforms would be available in both new and older-generation vehicles with its Mazda Connect system.

Mazda Connect appears to have debuted in 2013 model year vehicles, so a wide range of Mazda vehicles should eventually support CarPlay and Android Auto if and when the company finally fulfills its promise. Of note, like Toyota, Mazda has been listed as a committed CarPlay partner on Apple's website since 2014.

A survey last year indicated that an increasing number of customers consider CarPlay a must-have feature, so like Toyota, it may be worthwhile for Mazda to begin supporting Apple's software platform sooner rather than later.

CarPlay is already available in hundreds of vehicle makes and models around the world, including Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, BMW, MINI, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Acura, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Volkswagen, Volvo, and many others.

As an update to Toyota's announcement, a spokesperson said the automaker doesn't have any plans to support CarPlay in pre-2019 vehicles at this time, even though models like the 2018 Camry and 2018 Sienna have its Entune 3.0 system.

Article Link: Mazda Remains Committed to Introducing CarPlay But Still Won't Say When

 

[ghostface147]

Of course. However from what I have read, it's either hit or miss on the OEM. It works well for some (VW), and doesn't do well on others (Subaru). To each their own, but only one company has it wireless for some reason. BMW and only in the 5 series.

 

[actcyclist]

I’ve had it in my VW for over 2 years now and I couldnt go back to a crappy Mazda and Bluetooth style system.

 

[Juicy Box]

Mazda Connect appears to have debuted in 2013 model year vehicles

I am not sure if the 2014 Mazda CX-5 had the Mazda Connect, but if it did, it was a horrible system. Taking it to the dealership service department was pointless, it seemed as if they were reading from a cue card explaining that there is nothing they can do about the software. They acted as if they were tired of people bothering them about an issue that they couldn't fix.

The CX-5 was a nice vehicle, but the infotainment issues, and the horrible lack of power led my wife to trade it in for a clearanced/discontinued 2015 Mazda5.

The Mazda5 did not have any infotainment system, but it was really easy to put an aftermarket CarPlay head unit in it for a fraction was a dealer would probably charge for a CarPlay option.
[doublepost=1516055626][/doublepost]

o each their own, but only one company has it wireless for some reason. BMW and only in the 5 series.

There was an article around a year ago saying that VW wants to demo their wireless CP, but Apple blocked them for some reason. This leads me to suspect that Apple is the reason why there is not more wireless CP in new cars.

Of course people will say that wireless CP is pointless because of battery life, but I it is a feature I am looking forward to. If you need to charge your iPhone, there is a crap load of car chargers, or just charge it when you get to your destination.
[doublepost=1516055898][/doublepost]

I’ve had it in my VW for over 2 years now and I couldnt go back to a crappy Mazda and Bluetooth style system.

I my wife's 2014 Mazda CX-5, there was two ways to connect your phone, their via USB or BT, the USB wouldn't work on her iPhone 5, but it worked on my iPhone 5s. The BT wouldn't work on my phone, but it worked on hers.

The dealership ended up replacing the BT module, but it never seemed to work right. The service department would always just blame the phone for any connection problems on their system.

Man I am glad we got rid of that car.....

 

[ke-iron]

Still waiting for Infiniti to adopt this! I’m shocked that their newest q60 does not have this. For this I’m still riding my old g. No CarPlay not buying.

 

[Lyoha]

I’ve had it in my VW for over 2 years now and I couldnt go back to a crappy Mazda and Bluetooth style system.

Have it in my GTI and am pretty happy with it. There are glitches every once in a while, but they're rare enough.

 

[oregon.trader]

I'm wondering it it's time for a class action lawsuit. Mazda had this promise on it's website in the first half of 2017. We wouldn't have purchased our 2017 CX-5 if we weren't told that CarPlay support was coming soon.

 

[Soccertess]

Toyota finally caves!! Hopefully they ditch Entunes 3 as that is one crappy interface.

I think the Toyota executives who were against Carplay should be fired. They get paid so much, only to reverse their decisions after they see they were completely wrong.

thank god someone was smart enough to make a good decision!

 

[vaan]

I am not sure if the 2014 Mazda CX-5 had the Mazda Connect, but if it did, it was a horrible system. Taking it to the dealership service department was pointless, it seemed as if they were reading from a cue card explaining that there is nothing they can do about the software. They acted as if they were tired of people bothering them about an issue that they couldn't fix.

The CX-5 was a nice vehicle, but the infotainment issues, and the horrible lack of power led my wife to trade it in for a clearanced/discontinued 2015 Mazda5.

The Mazda5 did not have any infotainment system, but it was really easy to put an aftermarket CarPlay head unit in it for a fraction was a dealer would probably charge for a CarPlay option.
[doublepost=1516055626][/doublepost]

There was an article around a year ago saying that VW wants to demo their wireless CP, but Apple blocked them for some reason. This leads me to suspect that Apple is the reason why there is not more wireless CP in new cars.

Of course people will say that wireless CP is pointless because of battery life, but I it is a feature I am looking forward to. If you need to charge your iPhone, there is a crap load of car chargers, or just charge it when you get to your destination.
[doublepost=1516055898][/doublepost]

I my wife's 2014 Mazda CX-5, there was two ways to connect your phone, their via USB or BT, the USB wouldn't work on her iPhone 5, but it worked on my iPhone 5s. The BT wouldn't work on my phone, but it worked on hers.

The dealership ended up replacing the BT module, but it never seemed to work right. The service department would always just blame the phone for any connection problems on their system.

Man I am glad we got rid of that car.....

Yeah maybe the reason was the implementation of the QI Standard in iPhone 8 a iPhone X so Apple don’t want a unfinished Funktion, with a qi pad integrated in your car, enter your car put your iPhone on the qi CarPlay connect automatically and best user experience maybe that’s how I think it would be nice and that’s how it should be

 

[cast128]

Mazda has been touting this line for years. I wouldn’t expect anything soon from this company and I would all but rule out upgrades for older models. Maybe they will surprise customers, but I doubt it....

 

[trigf]

Of course. However from what I have read, it's either hit or miss on the OEM. It works well for some (VW), and doesn't do well on others (Subaru). To each their own, but only one company has it wireless for some reason. BMW and only in the 5 series.

Actually, BMW has made Wireless CarPlay available on all of their 2017 and 2018 models that have the navigation package, but its a $300 purchase to unlock in the BMW connected App Store. I found this out a couple of months ago when I was looking at a 2018 X5. Even the salespeople didn't know about it, and I had to show them. My dealer said people don't seem to want CarPlay, so they don't order their cars with it unlocked.

 

[tfigs]

Bought my 2013 Mazda CX-5 2 years ago. First thing I did was replace the head unit with an Alpine-007 unit for Apple CarPlay. Well worth the money. I love CarPlay. Plug and play, its that simple. Everything is synced up. The Mazda infotainment system was terrible. Bluetooth unreliable. Been hearing for quite a while now that CarPlay is coming to Mazda. Well, when is that going to happen? With the newer Mazda's you can't swap out the Infosystem for a new head unit.

 

[arggg14]

Have it in my GTI and am pretty happy with it. There are glitches every once in a while, but they're rare enough.

Same in my GTI. Every now and then the audio just won't play and I have to fiddle with unplugging and plugging the phone back in until it does.

 

[sldsnk]

I bought a 2017 MX-5 RF, love the car so much except for the lack of CarPlay. I filled out the owner’s survey and complained about the lack of CarPlay. At this point I’m skeptical but who knows, if Toyota offers it then Mazda will have to follow suit.

 

[nwcs]

I got a similar response when I inquired last September. If you believe reddit rumors, they are having unexpected problems making it work reliably and are expecting it late Q2 2018.

 

[B-Mc-C]

Toyota and Lexus today confirmed that CarPlay will be available in select 2019-and-later vehicles, making Mazda one of the only recognizable automakers--if not the only--without support for Apple's in-car software platform in the United States.

Ummmm... Tesla would be considered a major / recognizable automaker, at least in Southern California. ;-)

 

[brendu]

I’m tired of Mazda’s **** on this. Over a year and a half after buying a cx-5 with the promise of this coming with a software update and still nothing. There is one reason it hasn’t happened yet. As soon as CarPlay is available no one will buy their $400 SD card for maps. That is the only reason, I don’t care what Mazda says. They are being greedy and it’s obvious. Makes me so mad because we are on our third Mazda and love the cars but their infotainment system sucks bad and CarPlay would really be nice.
[doublepost=1516062651][/doublepost]

The CX-5 was a nice vehicle, but the infotainment issues, and the horrible lack of power led my wife to trade it in for a clearanced/discontinued 2015 Mazda5.

The Mazda5 did not have any infotainment system, but it was really easy to put an aftermarket CarPlay head unit in it for a fraction was a dealer would probably charge for a CarPlay option.

I drive a 5 and am curious. When you swapped the stereo for a CarPlay unit, did it mess up the upper info panel where time and temperature are displayed or does it just disable the audio portion of the bar?

 

[RangerOne]

Mazda is a great car company with great products, but they have been irrationally stubborn about CarPlay/AndroidAuto. I recently bought my first non-Mazda in 21 years thanks to their lack of CarPlay support, so after probably about $150,000 in car purchases over the years they just lost their first $50,000 from me.

Why am I so stuck on CarPlay? Several months ago I took a trip, and ended up in a car that had CarPlay. It was just... brilliant: familiar, fast, intuitive, fantastic Siri integration, wonderful and updated navigation/maps, great support for low-distraction text messaging, wonderful apps (podcasts! audiobooks!) and it just WORKED. We were all absolutely addicted by the end of the trip. The 2018 Mazda we looked at? When pressing the Voice button, it gave us a list of options on the screen. One was "Address" but, when saying "Address" the Mazda would say "This feature is not available." Huh? This was indicative of some of the frustrations of using their system (another was text messages that you couldn't reply to with voice, and a voice recognition module that couldn't seem to hear anything correctly).

Mazda has made CarPlay claims like this before. I truly do hope they stick to them this time, because their customer base is pissed off and is already leaving for other brands (Mazda sales are down). Offering backwards-compatibility with older Mazda Connect units would be an INSANELY AWESOME THING FOR THEM TO DO. I know I'd sing their praises.

Mazda: My wife is going to need a new Mazda CX-5 at the end of this year. If you want $38,000 for a tricked-out GT, please! please!! please!!! make CarPlay happen by the end of summer. If not, she's going for the Pilot.
[doublepost=1516063447][/doublepost]

I’m tired of Mazda’s **** on this. Over a year and a half after buying a cx-5 with the promise of this coming with a software update and still nothing.

Yeah, I'm actually worried about some class-action lawsuit against Mazda. How many thousands of people bought cars after that March, 2017 article (and the earlier one you mentioned), only to feel like they were lied to?

Let's give 'em a chance, people. I love Mazda, and hope they succeed. They will have countless thousands of customers dancing up and down with joy when they announce CarPlay support, particularly if it's backwards-compatible. After 2017, we really need something awesome.

 

[Juicy Box]

I drive a 5 and am curious. When you swapped the stereo for a CarPlay unit, did it mess up the upper info panel where time and temperature are displayed or does it just disable the audio portion of the bar?

No, I used an adapter, I can't remember the name, but it basically keeps everything the same. The main function is the steering wheel controls, but it also send the data to the upper dash screen. I think some data, such as environmental stuff, temp, fan, AC, is not a part of the head unit, but the data such as volume up/down, skip, and mode is displayed on the screen.

Check out Crutchfield for everything that is needed, but you don't have to buy from them. You can shop around like I did.

If you need any help with it, or want to know the parts I bought for the install, PM me, and I will look it all up.

 

[TechZeke]

I'm wondering it it's time for a class action lawsuit. Mazda had this promise on it's website in the first half of 2017. We wouldn't have purchased our 2017 CX-5 if we weren't told that CarPlay support was coming soon.

Sorry, but I wouldn’t buy such an expensive piece of property based on hope from the manufacturer. If I’m buying a car, it better have the features I want NOW.

My 2018 Optima had all the features I wanted working out the box(or in this case, off the lot). Anything Kia or Apple adds later is icing on the cake.

As much as I like Japanese cars, they are fumbling with this infotainment. Considering Koreans cars these days are just as reliable, Toyota and Mazda are just being arrogant.

 

[cere]

Don’t remember the last time anyone I know bought a Mazda. About time for Toyota.

 

[imageWIS]

Actually, BMW has made Wireless CarPlay available on all of their 2017 and 2018 models that have the navigation package, but its a $300 purchase to unlock in the BMW connected App Store. I found this out a couple of months ago when I was looking at a 2018 X5. Even the salespeople didn't know about it, and I had to show them. My dealer said people don't seem to want CarPlay, so they don't order their cars with it unlocked.

That's a lie.
[doublepost=1516067116][/doublepost]

As much as I like Japanese cars, they are fumbling with this infotainment. Considering Koreans cars these days are just as reliable, Toyota and Mazda are just being arrogant.

Also, Korean electronics are just as good or better than Toyota's.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

This is the automotive battleground today. Automotive manufacturers don't want to become dinosaurs, they want to own the IP of the future transportation network and letting tech giants into their background is the last thing they want to do. They'll only allow android auto and CarPlay as much as consumers demand it of them.

 

[archer75]

In the process of buying a loaded 2018 cx-5 now. It's for my wife and carplay isn't a deal breaker for her. It is for me but then this is her car. We shall see what happens.

 

[dampfnudel]

That's surprising that Mazda would be dragging their feet on CarPlay given how their vehicles have been designed/promoted to appeal to the millennial/gen X generations. Looks like Mazda has less zoom zoom than I thought.