How Apple's CarPlay Could Shore Up the Car Stereo Industry

Velcroman1 writes: "Car stereo salesmen and installers around the country are hoping Apple's CarPlay in-car infotainment system will have a big presence in the aftermarket car stereo industry. The Nikkei Asian Review reports that Alpine is making car stereo head units for between $500 – $700 that will run the iOS-like system Apple unveiled last month, and Macrumors added Clarion to the list of CarPlay supporters. Pioneer is also getting into the game, with support said to be coming to existing car stereo models in its NEX line ($700 – $1400) via firmware update, according to Twice. Given Apple's wildly supportive fan base, its likely that a lot of aftermarket CarPlay units are about to fly off stereo shop shelves. Indeed, CarPlay coming to aftermarket stereo units could bring back what Apple indirectly stole from the industry going back as far as 2006."

Why spend another $700 for a car stereo

[plebeian]

What I really want is someone to design a micro USB car dock and app so that I can plug my android phone in and have it replace the Stereo and GPS, charge, and allow me to display performance data (a la Torque) at the same time. All I really need mounted in the dash is an AMP and speakers. P.S. make it compatible with tablets as well..

Re:Wouldn't trust Apple

[nomanisanisland]

Most of Apple's customers are children, yuppies, and idiots. No one who actually understands technology[hardware and software] and mathematics buys Apple products.

That's interesting, since I meet a lot of software developers at other companies and the most common laptop maker they have (by far) are Apple ones: MBP or Air. Now maybe it's the tech industry I'm in (networking), or the type of developers I meet (highly paid ones who travel), but they can't all be stupid.

I used to tease them about it, until I got one because I was fed up with my employer-supplied laptop... and I have to say they are really, really good. There are some very frustrating things about Apple, no debate, but compared to the competition? Not even close. If I want to boot to linux or run it in a VM I can, but sometimes you just want something that works well without being a sysadmin; and the physical design is really good.

They're way expensive, but it's the thing you use all day, every day. If you can afford it at all, I think it's worth it. If you can't afford it, there's nothing to argue over.

It's like arguing over monitors. If you can afford a 30" or bigger IPS and you would use it all the time, get one. If you can't, don't complain that you don't need the extra inch or two.