Besides introducing a brand new iDrive 9 system (more on that later), we also learned that at CES 2023, BMW has no plans to integrate full infotainment and instrument cluster acquisitions from Google and Apple.
We already knew that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto would be available as standard on all BMW models from 2023 onwards, but it became clear that they would not be adopting the full instrument takeover feature. Ever since Apple’s developer conference last June, we’ve known that Apple was planning this with his CarPlay release later this year, and could essentially take over the entire dashboard of a car.
Dr. Christoph Grote, head of BMW’s electronics division, said in a session we attended that the company would not go that far. “CarPlay he is available on two screens: the main screen and [instrument] get together. Not a full cluster, but reserved space. What you don’t get is a full CarPlay-style instrument cluster. ”
Grote clearly believes there are risks in allowing other manufacturers to control the entire system. Players come and go, and that goes for very large players as well. We know he’s been around for 100 years, and we’re not betting the company on something that he’ll only last 10 years. ”
“If you associate your car and your smartphone too closely, you ignore the fact that driving a car is very different from sitting somewhere tapping on your phone. There are some synergies. But that’s a very different use case, and we’re a company that’s very focused on a comfortable and safe driving experience, so we don’t think it’s a perfect fit for us.”
With the introduction of the new iDrive 9, it looks like the current iDrive 8 technology won’t last as long as previously thought. BMW’s iDrive 9 will first be rolled out with the BMW X1. It has a completely new interface and an app store powered by Apptoide.
The BMW X2 and new Mini releases will launch with iDrive 9, but some vehicles will get the iDrive 8.5 release instead. This looks just like iDrive 9, but it appears because many BMW cars have Linux-based systems instead of the new Android-based iDrive 9. It’s based on the open source version of Android, not the version with Google’s Google Play Services.
Primarily, this is an entirely touchscreen-based system, but like other systems, BMW seems to be hoping for voice control. BMW uses Alexa technology for its voice platform, but for privacy reasons it is not exposed to Amazon’s broader Alexa ecosystem by default.
BMW also adds that since the 2018 model year, it has about 4 million cars that can be updated over the air.