After 12 Years Of Owning Toyota’s The Lack Of Apple CarPlay Made Me Buy A Hyundai #carplay

Toyota Resistance To Apple Carplay

I have owned four Toyota Camry’s since 2005 and I have been more than pleased with them. I am not a car guy I just want a car that is reliable and comfortable and if I can get a bit of styling even if a bland one well that's an extra.

The Camry meet all of those but I have been more than disappointed at Toyota’s lack of support for Carplay.

I was eager awaiting the unveiling of the new 2018 Camry redesign and hoping Entune 3.0 will bring the Carplay support I so much cherished.

The Toyota unveiled the Camry and the car looks amazing (at least for a Camry guy like me) but once again Toyota gave Carplay and Android Auto the thumbs down.

Entune 3.0 looks like a big step forward from 2.0 but at least for me the lack of Carplay was a deal breaker this time around.

Enter Hyundai

So there are a couple of car models that supports Apple Carplays but obviously, the two closest competitors to the Camry are the Honda Accord & Hyundai Sonata. So I decided to give both of them a test drive and finally settle on the Sonata.

Why?

Let’s face it car manufacturers aren’t very good at infotainment for them is an afterthought. That's where Carplay and Android Auto come to the rescue bringing a familiar and intuitive interface that make interacting with the in-car entertainment so much enjoyable and intuitive. So I will give the Sonata a try and see if after a couple of years Toyota get with the times and integrate Carplay. I may switch back to a Camry then or maybe not if the Sonata is as reliable as my Camry they may have lost a customer for good.

Apple Trashing Continues At @_connectedfm, @_upgradefm & @atpfm

Rant

I will be taking a long break from two of my favorite podcast Connected, Upgrade & ATP and in both cases is for the same reason.

They have become Apple bashing Apple winning podcast episode after episode. At this point, ATP should stand for Apple Trashing Podcast instead of Accidental Tech Podcast.

I am all in favor for criticizing Apple I have done it on multiple occasion especially when no Airport Extreme was released last fall.

But @marcoarment, @jsnell and @imyke had become to negative. They seem to want Apple to release what they want when they want it and if Apple takes longer to do it they will echo the mainstream “tech” media predicting gloom and doom for Apple and even calling for an executive to be fired.

For them, it seems every decision Apple makes and every product Apple releases is a bad move on Apple parts.

For example, on Connected’s last episode Myke was upset because Apple released a new low-end iPad but no new iPad Pro’s were announced. He was upset that the 12” iPad Pro is 18 months old and he likes to upgrade his iPad every year and he can’t so he gets upset.

So holding on to perfectly working hardware for a couple more months makes Myke upset instead of been grateful that the 18 months old iPad Pro he is so eager to replace is still a solid device after 18 months. Something that can’t be said for most Androids Tablets, Surfaces, and even Windows PC.

I for once prefer Apple take its time and only release a product when they are ready not when some vocal podcasters think is time, after all, they are following Apple from the OUTSIDE and have no clue what's going inside and why the decision that is been made are made.

I hope to go be able to enjoy this podcast in the future but for now, they had become too toxic.

Apple could drop the iPhone Numbering & S naming for iPhone & iPhone Pro

Three New iPhones For 2017

The rumor mill is ablaze with rumors flying all over the place that Apple will introduce three new iPhones this year.

The iPhone 7S, iPhone 7S Plus, and a new high-end model unofficially named iPhone Pro (or iPhone X)

Does This Naming Convention Make Sense?

Short answer. NO

Already the numbering and S naming scheme is a bit long in the tooth. Especially when there is very little change from on generation to the other (iPhone 6S to 7)

And with a third model been added to the lineup, it will make even less sense to keep with the numbering scheme.

If Apple indeed introduces a new high-end iPhone Pro that supposedly will start at over $1000 then it will give Apple the perfect opportunity to drop the numbering scheme.

What Names Could Apple Use For The New iPhones Then?

Simple. If they are in fact introducing a new Pro version they could call the new models just iPhone and call the new version iPhone Pro.

They did the same for the iPad 4. Instead of calling it iPad 4 Apple just call it the new iPad. And the current up to date lineup of iPads are been called iPads Pro. I won't be surprised if the Air just become the iPad.

Calling it just iPhone and iPhone Pro will be on par with the Macbook line and probably the new batch of iPads as well.

I believe the iPhone is mature enough to hold on it's on incremental upgrades without the big number changing every two years.

What are the chances of this happening?

We will find out in a couple of months.