Hands-On Apple 190 transcript
Please be advised this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word for word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-supported version of the show
0:00:00 - Mikah Sargent
Coming up on Hands-On Apple, we take a look at adding carplay to a vehicle after the fact, while staying on a budget. Stay tuned.
0:00:10 - Leo Laporte
Podcasts you love From people you trust. This is Twit.
0:00:25 - Mikah Sargent
Hello and welcome to Hands-On Apple. I am Micah Sargent and today, as always, I am here to talk about your Apple gadgets. This is the show where I teach you about something or, in this case, answer a question that has come in from a listener. So let's take a look. Dustin writes.
Hi, micah, my wife just picked up a 2015 Honda Civic. As it's a little too old, it doesn't have CarPlay. What are some good options these days to add CarPlay without a huge cost or, hopefully, without needing to remove the entire head unit and do complicated wiring? Well, this is a good question. It is a question that, honestly, we need to talk about. So, first and foremost, I get it. You've got an older vehicle and because of that, you don't have CarPlay built in.
Carplay is very handy. Wireless CarPlay is great because I have wireless CarPlay in my car by way of an aftermarket head unit and in doing so, my car by way of an aftermarket head unit, and in doing so, I can get in my car, keep my phone tucked away in a bag or in my pocket and it connects to the car automatically starts car play. It's a great experience, but it wasn't the simplest thing I've ever done. I did use Crutchfield, which is a site that sells aftermarket audio equipment and car stuff, and so I was able to essentially go on there, find the head unit that I wanted, which, by the way, head units have gotten a lot less expensive for the most part over time as we have moved away from things like physical media. So they used to have a lot of times like built-in CD players, built-in DVD players and a whole hefty head unit, but those head units have been able to get smaller and focus more on the screen over time, which has made them much more cost effective. Now, the cool thing about Crutchfield is if you go there and you buy something Crutchfield is going to give you you put in your car's information all of the little parts and pieces that you need not give them to you, but let you select them and buy them all the little parts and pieces that you need to make it work for your vehicle, and so I was able to do that to get the necessary vehicle harness, as it's called, that has the right wiring to plug into the back of the head unit to then connect to my car, and in the instructions I was able to follow along with those and get it working for my vehicle. So that is something that I have faith a somewhat techie person is able to do, particularly if they're a handy person as well. But I understand if that's not something you want to do, and so, when it comes to this, you are now kind of weighing the pros and cons, because with the full integration of the aftermarket unit, you get things like being able to use the steering wheel controls to go forward and back in songs, turn up and down the volume, use the car's built-in microphone to communicate All of those things that are built in. That functionality is there and that's great. But if you're truly looking for an aftermarket head unit that is more cost-effective and also doesn't require a lot of wiring, there are now these portable units that have been made and they may be what you are looking for. So let's head over to macOS to take a look at what we have here.
The first one that I want to talk about a look at what we have here. The first one that I wanna talk about is this head unit from Car and Driver. Actually, this is the Car and Driver IntelliDash Pro X10. And what it has is a full-featured wireless CarPlay touchscreen unit. It is nice and wide here so you can see it works as a 10 inch touchscreen that has all of the basic, the basic stuff as part of it, including giving you the ability to plug it into you know, your classic sort of cigarette lighter and, most importantly, run audio out of it auxiliary out into your car. That's the big thing because it does have a kind of built-in functionality for being able to listen to stuff. But no, we don't want to use tiny little speakers or anything like that, we want to use it from the car and so you connect it to your speaker with that actual jack or you can also connect it to your speaker via Bluetooth or FM radio. Again, don't recommend that. But being able to plug that in and have that auxiliary option, that aux cable to do so, is quite nice and will give you, I think, the functionality that you're looking for.
This Intellidash is $180. So it's not cheap, but it is. If you've ever looked into aftermarket head units, it is much less money than an actual aftermarket head unit. I think that the fact that it has the when I went looking for what would work here, I always looked for looking for what would work here I always looked for aux output. I do not like the idea of routing sound via Bluetooth or FM transmitter in particular, or using the built-in speaker, but having that aux output so you can at least plug it into your car and get some of the functionality. That works with your vehicle is great.
Essentially, what happens is you turn it on. That works with your vehicle is great. Essentially, what happens is you turn it on, it makes its own little Wi-Fi network, you connect to that and then that is what tells your phone hey, this is a CarPlay unit, I'm able to use this. You pop this thing up on your dash and have it plugged in and now suddenly you have CarPlay whoops in your car with all of the functionality that you would get from CarPlay. It does have a microphone, so you can use the built-in microphone for it to make calls, to access Siri, to do all of that stuff right there from the device. And if you happen to have Android Auto or needed to use Android Auto, it also has that as well. So this is my first choice.
My second choice is a little less expensive. It is the Eonon 10.26 inch wireless Apple CarPlay unit and it works similarly to the other one. You also get that same experience of CarPlay or Android Auto. It does have the ability to connect to a built-in backup camera, so you can connect that and get backup camera functionality. Where it will do the, it'll show it, it'll, you know, let you see it on the screen to the right of your CarPlay experience, or completely taking up the whole screen, and so having that as an addition, I think, is quite nice.
Think that, though and it also has, I should mention, a built in front cam, uh, so that you can use it for kind of keeping track of what's going on in your car. Those are apparently more needed these days with insurance claims, so it can be great to have that as well. So you plug this in as well. You've got the um, the, the camera experience. That's included, and the ability to connect, and, you know, use touch to access your CarPlay controls. You know, a white label product versus something that is a little bit more random and may not have as much behind it, just because what you're doing is connecting wirelessly to this device and having it broadcast CarPlay. So, and in doing so, I really feel that the best thing that you could do is save up some money. It is central to the experience that is carplay and having that really makes a difference.
So, yes, sure you can go with one of these units, and you may even like one of these units, but I think if you want to give your wife the best possible experience, it is going to be that aftermarket head unit install. And again, it's very easy to go to a site like crutchfieldcom, type in or, you know, select your car, your specific car, and it will surface all sorts of options for you that you can then install in the vehicle. So that is my ultimate suggestion. My last and final suggestion I'll make is, in looking for these, if you decide not to go with the links that we include in the show notes, if you just type in wireless CarPlay or wired CarPlay or whatever display, you're going to see options that are $20, $40, maybe even up to like 50 bucks. I highly recommend avoiding those. I highly recommend avoiding those because the experience, the lag, the screen that does not get anywhere near bright enough for a car that's moving through areas where there's a lot of sunlight all of that is going to hamper your ability to be able to use this CarPlay system, and ultimately that's what you want is to be able to use this CarPlay system and ultimately, that's what you want is to be able to use the CarPlay system. So those are my suggestions the Car and Driver, intellidash Pro X10 and Eonon's 10.26-inch CarPlay head unit.
Folks, that is going to bring us to the end of this episode of Hands on Apple. Thank you all so much for tuning in. Thank you, listener Dustin, for A being a member of Club Twit and B writing in with your question. I'll be back next week with another episode. Until then, you can get in touch with me hoatwittv or micahtwittv. Thanks, and we'll see you next time on Hands on Apple. Bye-bye.
0:11:28 - Leo Laporte
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