During the summer of 2019, BMW announced plans to charge drivers a subscription fee to access Apple’s free-to-use CarPlay infotainment service through their iPhone handset.
After 12-months of free usage, the German auto titan had plotted to charge £85 per year or £295 for a lifetime subscription, in order to use CarPlay, which Apple allows manufacturers to use free-of-charge.
However, a spokesperson for the company has now informed Autocar this will no longer be the case, at least on new cars running the latest version of CarPlay in the UK. It’ll now be free for as long as the driver owns that car. Those who’ve already purchased the plan will get a refund.
Some drivers will still have to pay £235 if they want to access CarPlay – which integrates the Phone, Maps, Messages, Music, a host of third-party apps and offers hands-free access to Siri – via some BMW cars.
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For example, Autocar points out models that cannot access the latest version of CarPlay such as the i3, i8 and 2 Series and 4 Series cars. At least that’s a £60 discount on what BMW was asking, but still a bitter pill to swallow for drivers.
Considering you have to buy one of the higher-end navigation-eqiupped models to even have access to CarPlay in the first place, it’s galling the German auto giant is asking for another fee to actually use it. BMW had initially said the subscription model was introduced to give drivers the option of paying less for the car if they didn’t plan to use CarPlay, since implementation cost BMW money.
Back in June, the company said this “allows us to keep the initial cost price of the vehicle down since not everyone will use CarPlay, but at the same time for those that do, they have a flexible offer structure after the initial year’s subscription has expired.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
