If you’re a fan of technology, and looking to be the proud owner of a new German-manufactured automobile next year, then the recently announced 2017 BMW 5 Series Sedan could be the car of choice.
BMW already has an extremely impressive array of vehicles, but a recent announcement, shows that next year’s 5 Series Sedan will come equipped with wireless CarPlay support, allowing owners to wirelessly integrate and control the built-in BMW iDrive system.
The integration of CarPlay support isn’t revolutionary in itself, but the fact that BMW’s new 5 Series Sedan will support Apple’s platform wirelessly is an impressive improvement that feels like the natural progression on a premium vehicle range. The support means that an iPhone won’t need to be connected via a Lightning cable to the vehicle, but instead can make that connection wirelessly over Bluetooth:
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. BMW is the first carmaker to integrate Apple CarPlay without any cables at all.
It’s really interesting to see BMW adopt this approach in the recently announced vehicle especially when you consider the fact that no other manufacturer has actually taken the step forward to fully support CarPlay wirelessly thus far with its own infotainment system. This feature has been available since the final quarter of last year when iOS 9 rolled out, but the BMW 5 Series Sedan will actually be the first car on the market to offer it to vehicle owners.
From an owner’s perspective, what BMW is looking to do, will definitely give a premium feel and experience to CarPlay within the vehicle. With standard integrations, car owners are required to connect their smartphones to the car via a Lightning cable through a standard USB port, but obviously with this new setup, that will be negated in favor of a Bluetooth connection.
For anyone interested, there isn’t a great deal of time to wait. BMW will be releasing the new 5 Series Sedan globally starting this coming February with full wireless CarPlay support.
You may also like to check out:
- Using Google Maps Navigation In Apple CarPlay Mode [Workaround]
- CarPlay Features In iOS 10: Here’s What Is New
- Apple Posts Full List Of CarPlay Compatible Vehicles
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