What is wireless Apple CarPlay and how do I get it in my car?

If you’re part of the Apple architecture, then you’ll probably already know about – or even use – Apple’s intuitive CarPlay system, which allows a user to mirror a select group of Apple apps onto their car’s multimedia screen.

Apple CarPlay apps include Apple Maps, Google Maps, the alternate mapping service Waze, music streaming service Spotify, WhatsApp, voice-to-text messaging and more.

In most new vehicles, an Apple CarPlay head unit requires the user to simply plug a phone into a USB port in their car to activate the CarPlay apps, but there are increasingly now more that can also support Apple CarPlay wirelessly too.

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For those who don't know. What’s Apple CarPlay, and how does it work?

Well…you hop in your car, hit ‘CarPlay’ on the head unit and it… just works. The system uses a combination of WiFi, cellular and Bluetooth reception to stream to your compatible multimedia system.

BMW was the first car company to offer the service, even though it decided to charge end users a subscription fee at the time, but now most carmakers have it available on high or top-spec versions of their vehicles.

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If your car is still a few years away from an update, it’s possible to buy an Apple CarPlay head unit aftermarket in order to access the service.

Companies like Pioneer offer Apple CarPlay stereos that will offer the wireless service.

In case you’re wondering, CarPlay is compatible with the iPhone 5 upwards.

Contributing – Toby Hagon