Pioneer Brings Apple CarPlay to Existing In-Dash Receivers

[mdelvecchio]

If you look at the image above you can see the little "LTE" on the receiver. I imagine most are ota, but if the unit has USB that may be an option also.

the image above is NOT an actual product shot. it's a conceptual image of CarPlay (which is your cell phone piped to an external display) that apple produced and doesnt represent the units like these pioneers.

pioneer's head unit firmware upgrades are often performed via memory sticks you punch into the front of the unit.

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Are these all LTE enabled?

no, not at all. they are offline head units. the beauty of CarPlay is that your phone is what drives the unit and has the connectivity. the head unit becomes an external monitor + touch when in CP mode. it should mean dumber head units which = cheaper head units (such as the AppRadio). that sounds good to me.

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Solves it for me. Although I love Pioneers interface over Alpine, I prefer Alpine brand. Hoping Alpine keeps prices low and doesn't gouge consumers like Pioneer by forcing you to buy NEX line when I basically just want AppRadio with Carplay.

it makes sense theyre giving it to NEX line first -- the owners of NEX paid over a grand for these things, whereas AppRadio is their $300+ low-end line. membership has its privileges. me, id rather invest in two AppRadios than spend $1000+ for one. shrug.

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OR, I could buy a $300 iPad Mini and Velcro it to the dashboard.

I must be missing something here.

yes -- good taste.

ok joking aside, besides being less inviting to a casual thief than an ipad velcro'd to the dash, an in-dash unit can run a bunch of equipment in your car like HD radio, external subs, external GPS antenna, in-car mic, rear parking camera, integrated steering-wheel controls, etc. may not be your cup of tea but for anyone w/ a bit of car audio enthusiasm, the features are worth it and produce value.

but again, this is their top-tier product line. of course CP as a feature will trickle down to the low-end lines, like the popular iOS-compatible, touch-based AppRadio, which goes for $300-400.

 

[papaburgundy]

Me Too, Man...

Fuuuuuuuuuuu......... Have an AppRadio 3. I want CarPlay support.

I just finished installing AR3 unit. Gotta feeling that update won't be in the pipeline. Bummer.

 

[zorinlynx]

The big thing stopping me from getting an aftermarket head unit is that apparently these things are major theft targets. Or at least they used to be.

Is head-unit theft still as big a problem as it used to be? I imagine most of them use security codes so they become useless to thieves, but thieves aren't the brightest lot so I'm betting they steal them anyway.

The best thing about OEM car stereos is that nobody wants to steal them.

 

[RadioGuy01]

the image above is NOT an actual product shot. it's a conceptual image of CarPlay (which is your cell phone piped to an external display) that apple produced and doesnt represent the units like these pioneers.

pioneer's head unit firmware upgrades are often performed via memory sticks you punch into the front of the unit.

----------



no, not at all. they are offline head units. the beauty of CarPlay is that your phone is what drives the unit and has the connectivity. the head unit becomes an external monitor + touch when in CP mode. it should mean dumber head units which = cheaper head units (such as the AppRadio). that sounds good to me.

----------



it makes sense theyre giving it to NEX line first -- the owners of NEX paid over a grand for these things, whereas AppRadio is their $300+ low-end line. membership has its privileges. me, id rather invest in two AppRadios than spend $1000+ for one. shrug.

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yes -- good taste.

ok joking aside, besides being less inviting to a casual thief than an ipad velcro'd to the dash, an in-dash unit can run a bunch of equipment in your car like external subs, rear parking cameras, integrate w/ steering-wheel controls, etc. may not be your cup of tea but for anyone w/ a bit of car audio enthuiasm, the features are worth it and produce value.

but again, this is their top-tier product line. of course CP will trickle down to the low-end lines, like the popular iOS-compatible, touch-based AppRadio, which goes for $300-400.

Yes. Because clunky aftermarket head units stuffed in the dash board that effectively mirror my phones function at twice the full retail price are ohh so elegant.

Got that in your Kia, do ya? Mr. Tasteful. Your sporty Kia with the coffee can sized exhaust tip do ya?

 

[mdelvecchio]

The big thing stopping me from getting an aftermarket head unit is that apparently these things are major theft targets. Or at least they used to be.

i have no data, but i feel they arent as big as a theft item as the 90s, when everybody was carrying detachable faceplates. ive had in-dash touch double-DIN head units for 4 years and never worried about theft. i dont live in the suburbs and live in what some would consider a higher crime urban area w/ no garages or driveways.

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Yes. Because clunky aftermarket head units stuffed in the dash board that effectively mirror my phones function at twice the full retail price are ohh so elegant.

an in-dash unit is 1000% more elegant than velcro'ing some kludge onto your dash & cigarette lighter. dont kid yourself. and the AppRadio line, which is iOS and touch-enabled, is $330. save your allowance and maybe one day you will be able to own one, son.

Got that in your Kia, do ya? Mr. Tasteful. Your sporty Kia with the coffee can sized exhaust tip do ya?

Ahhh, the hate is strong in this one! not at all. but enjoy your velcro

 

[Menel]

AppRadio 3 has crappy surface capacitive or resistive touch. Responsiveness sucks.

Their NEX line has projected capacitive touch like iPhone/Android devices. It's the better fit.

 

[arkmannj]

I'm just not sure these would have the same classy presence as my manufacturer origional tape deck in my '98 Carolla.... Yes folks, there is nothing like rockin' the manufacturer original, who needs this after market magic?

 

[jdag]

I love the concept...but my question is around physical compatibility. How common is the double din size on newer cars?

I generally lease vehicles and cannot remember the last time I had a car where an aftermarket display would fit the dash. I also rent cars often as I travel quite a bit, so drive a wide variety of cars.

The setups are all unique per car now, so are these easy fits or do they require modifications to the car?

 

[winston1236]

Can't be any worse than the POS AppRadio!

 

[springsup]

an in-dash unit is 1000% more elegant than velcro'ing some kludge onto your dash & cigarette lighter. dont kid yourself. and the AppRadio line, which is iOS and touch-enabled, is $330. save your allowance and maybe one day you will be able to own one, son.

Ahhh, the hate is strong in this one! not at all. but enjoy your velcro

This is in the NEX line, which costs over $1000.

Also, there was a certain amount of hyperbole there - I'm sure the poster wouldn't literally use velcro. There are plenty of iPad car dash mounts. This is a good-looking one; one of the first results on Google for "iPad mini car dash mount".

Also, the fact that the tablet is removable makes it much less of a theft target. Stick it in the glove compartment or take it with you.

Nobody's saying it's an ideal replacement for a built-in unit, but as long as CarPlay isn't in those $300 units, it's not a bad alternative if you must have a big-screen built-in iOS experience.

Will it come to $300 units? Maybe. Right now, there's no impetus on manufacturers to offer that; in fact, it offers an additional selling point for the higher-priced units, so they may opt to keep it as a premium feature until somebody undercuts them.

EDIT: Just seen that there's a $700 unit. Don't know if that changes anybody's mind. Personally I see no need for CarPlay right now; it'll be nice on my next car but for now I'm good.

 

[winston1236]

the image above is NOT an actual product shot. it's a conceptual image of CarPlay (which is your cell phone piped to an external display) that apple produced and doesnt represent the units like these pioneers.

pioneer's head unit firmware upgrades are often performed via memory sticks you punch into the front of the unit.

----------



no, not at all. they are offline head units. the beauty of CarPlay is that your phone is what drives the unit and has the connectivity. the head unit becomes an external monitor + touch when in CP mode. it should mean dumber head units which = cheaper head units (such as the AppRadio). that sounds good to me.

----------



it makes sense theyre giving it to NEX line first -- the owners of NEX paid over a grand for these things, whereas AppRadio is their $300+ low-end line. membership has its privileges. me, id rather invest in two AppRadios than spend $1000+ for one. shrug.

----------



yes -- good taste.

ok joking aside, besides being less inviting to a casual thief than an ipad velcro'd to the dash, an in-dash unit can run a bunch of equipment in your car like HD radio, external subs, external GPS antenna, in-car mic, rear parking camera, integrated steering-wheel controls, etc. may not be your cup of tea but for anyone w/ a bit of car audio enthusiasm, the features are worth it and produce value.

but again, this is their top-tier product line. of course CP as a feature will trickle down to the low-end lines, like the popular iOS-compatible, touch-based AppRadio, which goes for $300-400.

AppRadio is not in their "low end" products, its in their mid to high end products, for instance its in one model that cost 650 dollars and that doesnt even include the AppRadio cables you have to buy plus another 150 for a back up camera.

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I love the concept...but my question is around physical compatibility. How common is the double din size on newer cars?

I generally lease vehicles and cannot remember the last time I had a car where an aftermarket display would fit the dash. I also rent cars often as I travel quite a bit, so drive a wide variety of cars.

The setups are all unique per car now, so are these easy fits or do they require modifications to the car?

Its very common, if you're dash doesn't come with it you buy a dash kit which are very cheap.

 

[spinedoc77]

I wouldn't buy another Pioneer head unit if they paid me to use it. I had an Avic double din unit in my SL500 and it was the biggest POS, it ran Windows CE and was laggy and crashed a lot. After a year they issued a firmware update to fix it WHICH THEY CHARGED $ FOR!!

Besides I don't see the appeal of this, versus just getting a nice 8" tablet and mounting that on your dashboard. Plus the stock radios are so nice these days, makes you wonder how there are even still aftermarket radio companies these days.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I just finished installing AR3 unit. Gotta feeling that update won't be in the pipeline. Bummer.

Werd. Typically they don't bother with any of their older stuff.

it'll happen. hopefully we get a firmware update next. but if not, even spending another $300-400 for the AR 4 is cheaper than getting one of the top-tier CP-enabled head units.

Still a pain to tear apart my entire dash again to install a new unit when they could easily add it with a simple firmware update. Sadly Pioneer doesn't have great support for anything that isn't a brand new product.

At this point an AppRadio 4 isn't even on their list. If one does come out, it won't be until 2015 (the 2014 calendar has been released with no 4 on it).

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AppRadio 3 has crappy surface capacitive or resistive touch. Responsiveness sucks.

Their NEX line has projected capacitive touch like iPhone/Android devices. It's the better fit.

Better for what? Everything I do on my AppRadio 3 works perfectly fine with the current setup.

 

[EvilQueen]

Not sure how much I'd need this, but it will probably be increasingly prevalent. I wouldn't be interested in after market upgrade, if my next vehicle has it fine, if not, no big deal.

Kinda how I feel.


I don't see the big deal. I only use maps about once every 2 months on my phone.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

The big thing stopping me from getting an aftermarket head unit is that apparently these things are major theft targets. Or at least they used to be.

Is head-unit theft still as big a problem as it used to be? I imagine most of them use security codes so they become useless to thieves, but thieves aren't the brightest lot so I'm betting they steal them anyway.

The best thing about OEM car stereos is that nobody wants to steal them.

Doesn't seem to be the big problem is use to. Previously decks were easy to pop out. My AppRadio 3 requires taking apart the entire dash. Even if you ripped and tear, it's going to take quite some time and plenty of tools. My alarm system will bring plenty of attention in that time.

With so many cars having built-in GPS these days, it blends in and the factory units don't usually work in other vehicles without the code so they've become less of a hot target as you can't generally sell them easily.

 

[Menel]

Better for what? Everything I do on my AppRadio 3 works perfectly fine with the current setup.

Better fit for the Apple-esque CarPlay UI that this thread is discussing.

There has been no iPhone product with SCAP or Resistive touch technology, because it's crap.

 

[TechViking]

Volvo and Apple shows CarPlay being used in this falls XC90 model

Video of Volvo and Apple showing off CarPlay being used in their upcoming fall '14 models posted today:

http://www.neonode.com/volvo-showcases-next-generation-hmi-in-geneva/

I like the handsfree Siri/iMessage integration. Looks like it works pretty good. I wonder how accurate Siri will be at understanding speech when you are driving and the noise levels from traffic will go up though.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I can spend only about $800 to get CarPlay functionality in my 2012 Focus...vs $25,000 for a new car...this is good news

You have a 2 yr old model & would trade it in just for CarPlay?

 

[bacaramac]

[/COLOR]

it makes sense theyre giving it to NEX line first -- the owners of NEX paid over a grand for these things, whereas AppRadio is their $300+ low-end line. membership has its privileges. me, id rather invest in two AppRadios than spend $1000+ for one. shrug.

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Agreed, heck just come out with a new AppRadio and I'll buy that. Could care less if my current version is updated since it was so cheap. It just sucks that to get a NEX with a nice screen like AppRadio I have to buy their most expensive NEX product.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I love the concept...but my question is around physical compatibility. How common is the double din size on newer cars?

Depends on the car but many have integrated electronics systems. So size is just one hurdle.

 

[Nunyabinez]

an in-dash unit is 1000% more elegant than velcro'ing some kludge onto your dash & cigarette lighter. dont kid yourself. and the AppRadio line, which is iOS and touch-enabled, is $330. save your allowance and maybe one day you will be able to own one, son.

Ahhh, the hate is strong in this one! not at all. but enjoy your velcro

You have to love these MR posters who believe that they have been appointed the arbiters of what people should be allowed to want.

Right now, they are too expensive for me to justify, but I already have an aftermarket head in my car and would love to have a CarPlay deck. If it were within my budget I would get one. I have a car mount for my phone and it works, but is far from elegant.

 

[2457282]

If you look at the image above you can see the little "LTE" on the receiver. I imagine most are ota, but if the unit has USB that may be an option also.

The LTE, I assume, is from the phone.... I mean the stereo would not have its own cellular connection, right? But USB does make sense. What you are saying is that I would download the firmware update to a USB drive and then plug that into the car, correct?

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Better fit for the Apple-esque CarPlay UI that this thread is discussing.

There has been no iPhone product with SCAP or Resistive touch technology, because it's crap.

I guess I see none of the issues you seem to be having. I can do everything on my AppRadio 3 screen that I can on my iPhone screen.

 

[StoneJack]

I love the concept...but my question is around physical compatibility. How common is the double din size on newer cars?

I generally lease vehicles and cannot remember the last time I had a car where an aftermarket display would fit the dash. I also rent cars often as I travel quite a bit, so drive a wide variety of cars.

The setups are all unique per car now, so are these easy fits or do they require modifications to the car?

I think that all modern touchpanel HU cars have double DIN capacity; of course if the car from the start had 1 din space that's harder; even in that case, you can install 2 DIN headunit in 1 DIN space.

I guess that in near few months all aftermarket headunits will have the "CarPlay compatible" label if it works with CarPlay so choosing them will be easier, just as on printers you can find AirPrint compatible or somth like that

 

[Nunyabinez]

Besides I don't see the appeal of this, versus just getting a nice 8" tablet and mounting that on your dashboard. Plus the stock radios are so nice these days, makes you wonder how there are even still aftermarket radio companies these days.

I see a couple of benefits. One, you don't have to figure out how to mount it securely.

Two, you can do handsfree phone calls with it without fumbling to find your phone.

Three you use your existing cellular data plan without having to get a separate plan for the tablet.

I'm sure there are more, and these may not be important benefits for you, but they are things that make this interesting for me.

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The LTE, I assume, is from the phone.... I mean the stereo would not have its own cellular connection, right? But USB does make sense. What you are saying is that I would download the firmware update to a USB drive and then plug that into the car, correct?

Yes, it appears that USB is the general method for this as posters who actually own one corrected me.