News & Reviews:   Apple CarPlay

BMW Malaysia has just introduced Apple’s CarPlay for their models. The first 6 months is free (from the time the car is assembled) and after that, users will be charged a fee. For the first 3 months, users will be charged RM5 if they’re not willing to commit just yet. CarPlay comes with a 12-month plan which costs RM513 and a 36-month plan at RM799. If you want unlimited access forever, it will set users back RM1899.

One of the key limitations for smartphone integration is that it usually has to be with a newer car. Apple's CarPlay for example is just limited to the latest batch. However, Mercedes-Benz was reported as saying that an "after market solution" or some sort of Apple CarPlay kit could soon be coming to older Mercedes-Benz cars by the end of 2014. Tech specs, features or other details have not been made available yet but we expect it to be something more than just a simple plug-and-play stand you can install yourself. So far, only Mercedes-Benz has come forward about this but we expect other car makers to come out with similar announcements soon.