Island in the Net by Khürt Williams
Technology and Photography Musings. Established circa 2000.
Instead of a one-time, $300 fee, starting on 2019 models BMW will charge $80 annually for the privilege of accessing Apple’s otherwise totally free CarPlay service. You do get the first year free, much like your friendly neighborhood dealer of another sort, but after that it’s pay up or have your Lightning cable metaphorically snipped.
BMW's Apple CarPlay annual fee Is ridiculous.
Instead of a one-time, $300 fee, starting on 2019 models BMW will charge $80 annually for the privilege of accessing Apple’s otherwise totally free CarPlay service. You do get the first year free, much like your friendly neighborhood dealer of another sort, but after that it’s pay up or have your Lightning cable metaphorically snipped.
WTF?
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Where there is money to be had....they will do it. I am considering backing away from XM Radio since our driving habits have changed and whats the sense of paying 14.99 a month if I only listen to a few choice channels and not every day. And now I get an email from them stating that their royalty fees are going up so they plan to pass that along to us of course!.
I can just Bluetooth my phone to my car and listen to what I want when I want (my phone has a 128GB sd card). Also considering my options with Comcast.
Ed, I stopped listening to XM Radio and radio, in general, a few years ago. I found free podcasts with solid content from respectable sources. For music, I have a family subscription to the Apple Music service for $14.99/month with a personal account profile for each family member. With a 128GB iPhone, I can download dozens of podcasts and my downloaded music playlists are over 4-5hours long (but the service allows me to download up to 100,000 songs to my library). With Bluetooth or cable to the car audio and I'm set for the daily commute or a long distance road trip. CarPlay is low on my list of features for my next car but I do want a BMW. Only a few manufacturers are still making manual transmissions for the US market and Audi and BMW (including Mini) are on my short list for my next car (2019).