Apple’s CarPlay, which is a sleek iOS-style infotainment system, has been capable of communicating with supported vehicles wirelessly since the launch of iOS 9 last year. Until today, however, not a single car supported the feature. Now, BMW’s new 2017 5 Series, announced today, will be the first car to get wireless CarPlay support. That means drivers will no longer have to connect their iPhone via USB to replace the car’s central software with Apple’s own version.
"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," reads BMW's promotional material. "BMW is the first carmaker to integrate Apple CarPlay without any cables at all."
It’s unclear why the initial rollout has taken so long. Apple reportedly stopped Volkswagen from demoing the feature back at CES in January, so evidence would suggest it’s the iPhone maker that’s been stalling wireless CarPlay up until now. Still, with BMW’s new car onboard, we’re bound to see more software updates to support the feature down the line.
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