Mercedes-Benz to revise its plan for aftermarket CarPlay solution

It was previously reported that Mercedes-Benz would offer an after market solution by the end of the year. We wrote that Volvo and Ferrari acknowledged that extending CarPlay compatibility to older models would be very difficult. We recently talked with an representative from Mercedes-Benz. We were told that “Mercedes-Benz is working intensively” to bring CarPlay into older models; because Mercedes-Benz strongly wants to “be the first German premium OEM to offer the solution to its customers”.

However, it seems that the company now revised its plan. Mercedes-Benz acknowledged that aftermarket installations of CarPlay may not be ready by the end of this year, as previously reported. The company now says that the solution could be ready “at the very latest in 2015.”

Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo would be among the first car manufacturers to bring CarPlay technology into their cars. In April 2014, Hyundai said that it would bring CarPlay to its 2015 Sonata Models. It was announced that Pioneer and Alpine would would launch a new compatible aftermarket solution to add CarPlay to any car.

SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.