Apple Carplay / Android Auto - any news

[Teresap]

Why is it our dealers are telling us totally different stores regarding Apple CarPlay the only difference between your order and mine is that mines a AWD.. I ordered mine August 15th and is due for delivery in March.. My dealer has confirmed that my car will NOT have Apple CarPlay 

[chris ha]

sorry Mine is AWD that was a typo, nevertheless my dealer is adamant that he will meet my dates and car play requirements because if he does not he will miss both this sale and one for  new CHr that the wife is going to order, he was good enough to show me the order on the system which showed 20.5(?) which is the carplay derivative, These are a small dealership not some huge dealer so they need to get it right, and during discussions before the order he repeatedly checked and actually said to me "you want it in March with CarPlay then I need the order beginning of of October"

[Teresap]

That’s the difference then the order date. 

Have you paid more for the 20.5 model?

my dealer also fairly small told me that the 20.5 models will be a higher price due to the upgrades 

[chris ha]

no exactly the same, as my dealer said " the price was fixed when you ordered it, there was no pricing for the 20.5 but Toyota were taking orders, so they absorb the cost"

[FROSTYBALLS]

On 9/26/2019 at 8:36 PM, Devon Aygo said:

Orders placed/accepted before 30th Sept will be price protected for specification upgrade costs, orders after 30th Sept will incur cost increase £ TBC.

Information re price protection/increase posted previously.

[Southern Softy]

I’ve seen a replacement unit on a US forum so will post a couple of photos when I get chance

[Tomfromfife]

I contacted Toyota Customer Relations and received the following. Much the same as other replies. We should all keep the pressure on.

Thank you for your email regarding the availability of Apple CarPlay.

After the successful addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to the Toyota AYGO last year, Toyota have been working hard on adding this to the rest of the current Toyota range however at this time we don't currently have any information as to when it will be applied to the Toyota RAV4 but it is a matter of importance high on Toyota's agenda going forward and I feel certain that there will be further information regarding this very soon. 

Once a confirmed date of implementation is confirmed by Toyota Japan we will of course provide information to all of our customers advising on when both operating systems will be implemented on the full Toyota range and also if this will be available as a retroactive update to current vehicles and how this would be carried out. 

I apologise that I cannot confirm an exact date in this email but I would suggest keeping an eye on both the Toyota website and the official Toyota blog and also maintaining contact with your Toyota Centre. 

[Southern Softy]

Me-two on another forum who is based  in Australia just had his 2019 RAV4 upgraded at his dealer, here’s what he had to say :

Had the Apple Carplay/Android Auto installed today
The changes are BezelMap Lamp and Microphone Assy replaced (old microphone not compatible with Siri)
2 software updates One for the navigation software (40 minutes)
The other one for Carplay/Android Auto (40 minutes)

[Teresap]

Sounds interesting my dealer has guaranteed that the Apple CarPlay will be available from next April 

is the Australian audio unit the same as the Uk version 

and was there any cost to the Australian customer to have the upgrade? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think Australia uses Entune - the same as the US.

[Tomfromfife]

I contacted Toyota Customer Relations and received the following. Much the same as other replies. We should all keep the pressure on.

Thank you for your email regarding the availability of Apple CarPlay.

After the successful addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to the Toyota AYGO last year, Toyota have been working hard on adding this to the rest of the current Toyota range however at this time we don't currently have any information as to when it will be applied to the Toyota RAV4 but it is a matter of importance high on Toyota's agenda going forward and I feel certain that there will be further information regarding this very soon. 

Once a confirmed date of implementation is confirmed by Toyota Japan we will of course provide information to all of our customers advising on when both operating systems will be implemented on the full Toyota range and also if this will be available as a retroactive update to current vehicles and how this would be carried out. 

I apologise that I cannot confirm an exact date in this email but I would suggest keeping an eye on both the Toyota website and the official Toyota blog and also maintaining contact with your Toyota Centre. 

[philip42h]

39 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Think Australia uses Entune - the same as the US.

Well there you go ... my thought processes were leading to the opposite conclusion ... 😄 ... but I must stress that I know absolutely nothing (on this subject).

A modern infotainment system is merely a car radio with an overblown sense of its own importance. And the primary function of a car radio is to receive radio signals ...

In the US, modern digital radio is broadcast over the existing FM frequencies using some wholly proprietary US technology standards. The US military have reserved the frequencies used elsewhere for DAB / DAB+ so there is no DAB radio in North America (US or Canada since the Canadians have gone along with the US position). The Entune system is capable of receiving digital FM, amongst other things, but lacks support for DAB. I suspect that all RAVs built for the North American market in Toyota's plant in Canada use the Entune system.

Australia adopted DAB in 2009 and now widely use DAB+ - in and around the cities at least. Australian spec RAVs are advertised as having DAB+ support. So my assumption is that they don't use Entune - rather that they use essentially the same system as we use in Eorope and that is gaining traction in the rest of the world.

All of which seems like a reasonably sound thought process to me - but that doesn't mean that it isn't completely wrong! 😉

The bottom line is though, that, whatever happens in the US or Oz, until Toyota UK make a definitive statement on the subject, UK customers will just have to wait, as patiently as possible, for an authoritative update.

Meanwhile, I checked again this morning what is on the Toyota UK website - the published specifications and pricing are for 2019 model years RAV4s (there are 2020 specs for other models) and these specifications do not include Apple Carplay / Android Auto ... so anyone ordering today (or who has already ordered) cannot reasonably expect these features to be included within their contact ...

[MrBee]

Hi Philip

Thanks, this is useful info on the media differences.

Looking at the Toyota UK site for Rav4, if you click on the Mutlimedia box (which says "Explore our easy to use video guides to your All New RAV4 audio and entertainment system.") it takes you to:

https://www.toyota.co.uk/owners/vehicle-information/in-car-multimedia/

And this has a lot of info on Apple/Android integration.  If I was ordering now, I'd be pretty annoyed if this is not included.

[chris ha]

Australia uses ETUNE 3.0, so like the US it can received satellite Radio SIRIUS or whatever its called in OZ, I think it saves trying to transmit Radio to Alice Springs and the deepest Outback

[Thermal]

Hi all,

I moved over from the Avensis Ownersclub when I took delivery of my new RAV4 AWD. Great car so far!

Recently, I saw this message on the Dutch Toyota RAV4.5 forum:

"... just had a phone call from my dealer. In Mai/June next year, my 2019 RAV4 will be upgraded to support Apple Carplay and AA, with no charge!
He also explained why that takes some time: from the model year 2020 on, the RAV4s will be deliverded without the Toyota navigation option. That could mean that Toyota is dropping their own infamous Nav system entirely in favour of the Apple Carplay and AA option.

For the new 2020 models that's no problem (Toyota just buys the MM units from Panasonic ready to install), but the existing 2019 models require quite some firmware rewriting and testing on the MultiMedia unit." The new November price list does mention Carplay and AA as standard.

Also, an Australian user reports that his (Entune 3.0) system received the free Carplay/AA upgrade, and that the screen's lighting bazel and microphone had to be replaced because the existing microphone did not support Siri.
https://www.toyota.com.au/news/toyota-introduces-apple-carplay-android-auto-on-select-vehicles

When ordering my RAV4 in March , I anticipated this to happen and did NOT order the Navigation option. Instead, I bought a RAV4 car specific  Brodit Clip with Active Holder and mounted my TomTom with Lifetime free Maps, Speed traps and Traffic info. The holder takes 12V from internal car wiring and it works like a charm.
I will look at Carplay when it arrives and test it in parallel with TomTom and then decide which one I like best.
So, it looks like something is happening, but don't kill the messenger!

[Teresap]

Thanks for the CarPlay update I take delivery of my rav4 1st March (hopefully) 

my dealer guarantee’s that the CarPlay upgrade is available from April as a retro fit but has no commitment as to weather it free or not!

i would of cancelled my order without this guarantee 

[chris ha]

I am sure it will be a freebie

[FROSTYBALLS]

See 

 

[MrBee]

Great to have clarity on this. Many thanks Devon Aygo. 

[chris ha]

agreed Good news and considerably  than  the other quotes of 500 -8000, wonder what it consists of? especially if you get discount if you are having it done during a service

[Aleksei]

Hi Guys,

I am 12.gen Corolla owner from Estonia. (bought in June 2019)
I`ve been following this topic for a long time. Yesterday I also received a confirmation from a local dealer that in the beginning of the summer 2020 they will start to offer a Carplay upgrade for 12.gen Toyota Corollas. For all of them, not only for Corollas that produced starting from October 2020.  (price and exact date are not 100% clear yet)

[MrBee]

17 minutes ago, Aleksei said:

Hi Guys,

I am 12.gen Corolla owner from Estonia. (bought in June 2019)
I`ve been following this topic for a long time. Yesterday I also received a confirmation from a local dealer that in the beginning of the summer 2020 they will start to offer a Carplay upgrade for 12.gen Toyota Corollas. For all of them, not only for Corollas that produced starting from October 2020.  (price and exact date are not 100% clear yet)

Hi Aleksei

There is more information here:

 

[Qbert23]

I’ve just picked up my new RAV4 Jan 2020 and there is no Apple car play 😞

any ideas if it will be available as a software update or probably a ££extra

[MrBee]

4 hours ago, Qbert23 said:

I’ve just picked up my new RAV4 Jan 2020 and there is no apple car play 😞

any ideas if it will be available as a software update or probably a ££extra

It will be available as a firmware upgrade soon. It's all in this thread:

 

[Buff69]

4 hours ago, Qbert23 said:

I’ve just picked up my new RAV4 Jan 2020 and there is no apple car play 😞

any ideas if it will be available as a software update or probably a ££extra

Hi what multimedia unit do you have ? Please just asking as we’re picking our RAV4 hopefully this week cheers