Review: Mazda's CarPlay Support a Welcome Addition for iPhone Users

[deeddawg]

If it's not wireless I'm not interested.

 

[Baff]

Also, no aspect of it voids the warranty...

Thanks for the correction. I was under the impression that self installing the firmware voided the warranty. Perhaps it was installing tweaks or something else that voided.

 

[WildCowboy]

Any CarPlay reviews should clearly indicate whether or not it supports wireless CarPlay, along with whether or not the car has built-in Qi wireless charging.

To my knowledge, BMW/MINI is the only manufacturer to offer wireless CarPlay so far. Mercedes should be coming soon. And no, Mazda doesn't offer Qi charging in the Mazda6, though that is becoming a more widely offered option in general, so hopefully we start seeing a lot more of that soon. Wireless CarPlay plus Qi charging is a very convenient setup.

Terrible that it's only on the touring model. Kind of pricy. Other companies this comes standard on entry/near entry level models. My Equinox was very cheap and it has a beautiful big screen to display CarPlay.

To be clear, Touring is the second-lowest of five trims on the Mazda6. Only the base Sport trim doesn't get it.

 

[ghostface147]

If it's not wireless I'm not interested.

So I guess a BMW or Mini is the only option for you if you want wireless CarPlay from the OEM.

 

[deeddawg]

So I guess a BMW or Mini is the only option for you if you want wireless CarPlay from the OEM.

At this point, yes.

Meanwhile I'll just continue to live without it, using a Qi-charging phone mount and the stock Mazda interface with bluetooth.

IMHO based my my experience with my daughter's Hyundai and also with rental cars, wired-CarPlay is fine if you're getting in the car and driving a couple hours. For short drives, particularly where you're running errands and thus in and out of the car several times, wired CarPlay is a pain in the azz. Just not interested.

 

[DocMultimedia]

As others have said, it isn't clear when this may get to other things such as CX-3 and CX-5. I was thinking of buying one of those, but since the dealers seem clueless on when it may be possible to get it done, I passed on the purchase.

A pity. They had a really nice CX-3 I wanted to buy.

 

[abbymtl]

Cute Mazda like the Android version of a car LOL

 

[kjvmartin]

To my knowledge, BMW/MINI is the only manufacturer to offer wireless CarPlay so far. Mercedes should be coming soon. And no, Mazda doesn't offer Qi charging in the Mazda6, though that is becoming a more widely offered option in general, so hopefully we start seeing a lot more of that soon. Wireless CarPlay plus Qi charging is a very convenient setup.



To be clear, Touring is the second-lowest of five trims on the Mazda6. Only the base Sport trim doesn't get it.

Looks like $3800 over the base model to be able to view your maps on the big screen.

I was a die-hard Mazda driver 10 years, two different Mazda6 Sports. Lack of CarPlay sent me looking for another car company. 2018 Chevrolet has been a pleasant surprise. The features per dollar. I was really hoping to come back to Mazda, but I always buy the base model of whatever car I get. Smartphones are such a common part of life it should not be an option to interface with your car.

 

[Dave Schmit]

Each Mazda region (Country) is handling the CarPlay/Android Auto update a little differently. In the U.S., Mazda supplied all of its dealers with the number of CarPlay/AA retrofit kits as that dealer ordered 2018 Mazda6 models that have Mazda Connect infotainment systems. The dealers were instructed to reserve ALL of those CarPlay/AA retrofit kits for the 2018 Mazda6 and only the 2018 Mazda6.

But that hasn't prevented some dealers from selling the retrofit kits over the counter to owners of other Mazda models. I know, because I bought two of the kits.

Both my 2017 Mazda CX-5 and 2016 Mazda Miata now have CarPlay/AA installed. I did the installation myself, including the necessary firmware update to Mazda's latest infotainment software version.

I paid $183 each for the kits, delivered to my home. It took me 2.5 hours to do the entire update (start to finish) on my CX-5 and took only 1.5 hours to do the update to my Miata.

CarPlay works beautifully (I don't have an Android phone so I didn't test that). It's notably faster than Mazda's user interface and having SIRI available at the touch of a steering wheel button is a treat. SIRI is WAY faster under CarPlay compared to using SIRI (pressing button on phone) through Mazda's UI.

Going forward, CarPlay will be mandatory in all of my new cars. There's no going back.

The Mazda CarPlay/AA retrofit kit will fit and work in any current Mazda that already has the Mazda Connect infotainment system. I believe that's as far back as 2012 or 2013 for some of the Mazda models (but not necessarily all of them).

BTW, CarPlay/AA doesn't entirely replace Mazda's UI. Meaning, you can still use Mazda Connect if you want. You can easily toggle between the two different UIs. You can still use Mazda's Navigation for directions while you are using CarPlay for music or podcasts. And, with iOS 12 and Goggle's latest version of Google Maps, you can navigate with Google Maps instead of Apple Maps. A new version of Waze that is compatible with CarPlay is coming in October.

Mark

Requiring a cable connection is a non-starter for me, although its nice to see Google Maps in Carplay with iOS 12. I only use Google Maps navigation for audio prompts, while playing music, and having phone connected for calls and having the system speak texts. Mazda connect does all those audio needs via Bluetooth so I can keep my phone pocketed, which I do most of the time. Ultimately I found that over time, I stopped using carplay on another car since it is esssentialy a "meh" when cable connection is required. So, I'd rather spend that $189.95 Mazda part upgrade cost (current price at Priority Mazda before shipping) for speaker upgrades instead since my 2016 CX-5 and 2016 Miata have terrible OEM speakers even in the Grand Touring trim.

 

[Mark Booth]

Requiring a cable connection is a non-starter for me, although its nice to see Google Maps in Carplay with iOS 12. I only use Google Maps navigation for audio prompts, while playing music, and having phone connected for calls and having the system speak texts. Mazda connect does all those audio needs via Bluetooth so I can keep my phone pocketed, which I do most of the time. Ultimately I found that over time, I stopped using carplay on another car since it is esssentialy a "meh" when cable connection is required. So, I'd rather spend that $189.95 Mazda part upgrade cost (current price at Priority Mazda) for speaker upgrades instead since my 2016 CX-5 and 2016 Miata have terrible OEM speakers even in the Grand Touring trim.

I was already in the habit of plugging my iPhone into USB to charge in both of my Mazdas. And adding the CarPlay/AA retrofit kit ups the charging capacity of Mazda's USB ports from 500ma to 2.1amps, a really nice improvement for folks with larger phones.

But the best reason to add CarPlay to a Mazda is getting that Siri button on the steering wheel. Sure, you can still use "Hey, Siri" without CarPlay but going through Mazda's UI for that is slow. Siri in the CarPlay UI is MUCH faster. Lightning fast. She not only ready for your command much faster but she responds to the command faster too.

CarPlay is a game changer as far as Siri goes in a Mazda.

Mark