According to a report published recently by Car and Driver, Apple has blocked German car maker Volkswagen from showcasing wireless CarPlay connectivity at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) taking place right now in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“We wanted to demonstrate wireless CarPlay and the owner of CarPlay technology didn’t allow us to,” Volkmar Tannerberger, head of electrical and electronic development at Volkswagen, told Car and Driver.”
Apple officially rolled out support for wireless CarPlay with the release of iOS 9 in 2015. However, while the support exists, there isn’t a publicly available via a commercial release product that offers that specific functionality just yet.
.The current CarPlay setup requires users to connect an iPhone to a vehicle via USB port, and many have seen the wireless feature as a natural evolution of the in-car system. Although Tannerberger didn’t divulge the specifics behind Apple’s stonewalling, it is likely the Cupertino company wanted more control over all of the elements going into the public debut of the wireless feature.
In lieu of its inability to show off wireless CarPlay features, Volkswagen used its CES booth to demonstrate a new project that connects a smartphone to a car’s infotainment system and mirrors its functions and controls. The car maker used an open-sourced standard called MirrorLink, unavailable on iPhones, to show off the technology, which would let users stream content from a smartphone and onto the in-car system. Volkswagen was said to “envision” the feature working in tandem with a wireless charging system to keep a phone topped off.
CarPlay news has been flowing out of CES this year, with companies like Kenwood, JVC, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and others announcing incoming support for Apple’s in-car system. There are still a few opting out of the service, however, including Toyota, which decided to go with SmartDeviceLink over CarPlay and Android Auto earlier in the week.
Apple blocked Volkswagen from showcasing wireless CarPlay at CES