BMW to switch Apple CarPlay to subscription service
Apple CarPlay is being offered in more and more vehicles, often as standard equipment. BMW, though, charges for it. BMW currently offers CarPlay as a $300 option on cars equipped with navigation. This will change, though, as The Verge reports the German automaker will switch to a yearly subscription service.
CarPlay will be free for the first year, then cost $80 a year to continue the service. At the Detroit Auto Show, BMW technology product manager Don Smith explained that there's actually a customer benefit to doing it this way. "This allows the customer to switch devices. A lot of people buy [CarPlay] and think it's OK, but sometimes they stop using it or switch to Android." If a customer decided to keep the service over the course of a three-year lease, they would end up paying less than the one-time cost of $300, as the first three years would cost just $160. Four would cost $240.
Autoblog reached out to BMW, and a spokesperson confirmed the details for the U.S. market, reiterating the benefit to lessees.
BMW currently doesn't offer Android Auto. Late last year, the automaker announced (with a really slick video) that all new BMW and Mini models would offer Amazon Alexa as an in-car service in 2018. Smith told The Verge that BMW models will also offer Google Assistant later this year.
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