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Honda reaffirms commitment to Apple’s CarPlay, says 2016 Accord will be first to support it

carplay

When CarPlay was debuted in March of 2014, a variety of automobile manufacturers signed on to support Apple’s in-car offering. One of those launch partners was Honda and despite the manufacturer having promised to support the platform from the beginning, it has yet to release any car model with support for CarPlay. Today, however, Honda announced at an event in Silicon Valley that it will begin shipping cars with support for CarPlay in 2016.

Speaking at the event, Honda’s American Research and Development head Frank Paluch promised that the manufacturer will begin supporting both CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto in their upcoming models. To start with, the 2016 Honda Accord will be the first model to get CarPlay and Android Auto.

Regarding the company’s move to start including CarPlay and Android Auto, Paluch noted that “It’s only the beginning,” implying that the company will expand its support for the platforms beyond a single model. It’s unclear, however, when cars aside from the 2016 Accord will ship with Android Auto and CarPlay onboard.

Apple originally promised CarPlay availability in 2014, although that never truly came to fruition due to a variety of delays. The company currently lists 34 car manufacturers on its CarPlay microsite, as well as three aftermarket solutions. Not all of those 34 manufacturers have actually shipped a CarPlay compatible car yet, however, despite the promises from Apple.

We reviewed CarPlay on an aftermarket Pioneer head unit earlier late last year and noted that while CarPlay has promise, it has more than its fair share of bugs.

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Comments

  1. Trevor Bradford - 9 years ago

    I’m still confused as to whether or not my current 2015 Civic EX will be able to support CarPlay later with a software upgrade. My Civic has the exact same dash as the photos apple shows CarPlay being used on, on their website as well as the photo at the top of this article.

    • ZakDesign (@ZakDesign) - 9 years ago

      On Twitter many times in the last two days Honda has already said it is a Hardware and software updated and it won’t be coming to older cars. I am in the same boat with the 2015 Civic EX

  2. yeah okay, like they did for 2013-2015 honda accord with siri eyes free. which never happened.
    https://www.change.org/p/honda-motor-company-john-w-mendel-2015-honda-accord-infotainment-issues?

  3. taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

    3 fucking years after iOS in the Car was announced. Hope Apple’s secret car project for is infotainment hardware since they can’t get manufacturers to adopt CarPlay functions beyond a snails pace.

    CarPlay,HomeKit and HealthKit hardware has been being released so slow. Apple needs to step in and help the manfsctuees and lessen the encryption they require from the hardware.

    All three have tremendous potential, but without the hardware the great software backbone means nothing.

    • My gripe is I purchased a 2015 Fit with the Apple CarPlay support being easily one of my top five reasons I waited/ wanted this car. Then I waited and waited and waited. Only to be burnt and it never coming and THEN Honda says it will NOT be in the 2015 model year. A simple firmware patch is all they need to do. It was demoed on 2015 models… means it would work on 2015 models!

  4. I’d rather have Android in the car since the only Apple product I own is a Mac Air and refuse to buy that silly compromised iPhone. Apple maps are junk, so is standard auto navigation. Google maps let you do so much more. But Apple or Google disables certain features in maps when used on a silly iPhone. So even that isn’t the same.

    Acrua is tech dork luxury for people who had a Civic in college.

    This isn’t going to make the rest of the world come to Honda or Acura. Or Apple.

    Biggest market share is on Android.

    Honda, why not give people a CHOICE?

    • remserwis - 9 years ago

      “Acura is tech dork luxury”…..and android products are for people who don’t want to or can’t pay for luxury to have best phones these days

      • LOL you apple fanboys are so silly! you don’t even know how limited your iPhone is compared to what an android phone can do! Some actually cost more than iPhones.

      • I see you have nothing to say about Acura appealing to college Civic driving tasteless tech dorks who think it’s “luxury”.

      • Coding and aesthetics awkwardly and erroneously merged together. That’s what Acura accidentally became for the tasteless.

      • Acura is as ugly and NON luxury and NON performance as the awkward sex two non-sexy programmers would have. And the child they would bear. Acura should abort itself.

    • Brendan (@Iplay3Chords) - 9 years ago

      LOL, “you don’t even know how limited your iPhone is compared to what an android phone can do!” Oh hai everybody, look at my awesome Themer Theme!!!! Android is as crippled as an iPhone. Jailbreak an iPhone and it makes it WAAAAY more versatile and much better features than a rooted Android phone, or custom roms…….

      All “open” means to Android users is being able to download shitty encoded mp3s with your free Mp3 downloader app.

  5. remserwis - 9 years ago

    its not a coincidence this statement is made now. big advertisement Honda campaign with whole family using Apple products (iPhone 6, iPad mini, Beats headphones …) probably is one of the pieces in this puzzle…. thats why I like Apple…. they are so big now that can shake (or pay to) even most “old school” businesses to play along….It’s obvious that car makers will postpone CarPlay as long as they can because for now its functionality known by geeks….so why not to keep selling “old” products to customers smiling when seeing useless 5″ lcd display and make them change it earlier when they find out how cool the CarPlay is ???

  6. “android is for poor people” fucking apple morons. Acura is tech dork “luxury”.

  7. shaunvis (@shaunvis) - 9 years ago

    I’m never buying another Honda. The dealer told me, as well as Honda on their FB page that Carplay would be coming for my 2014 Civic. That’s the main reason I bought it. It’s even been used on the Apple Carplay website to demonstrate it for two freaking years.

    Now they’re just saying “Too bad”. Screw them.

    • Barbara Eberly - 8 years ago

      I also bought a 2014 Honda Civic EX coupe, based on the Auto Shows that featured iOS in the Car, which later became CarPlay, that actually featured this specific model. I have written rants on so many website forums, called Honda, called Apple, complained to the Honda dealership salespeople who had no idea what I was talking about. I use HondaLink which is okay for playing music, making phone calls, and attempting to ask Siri for something, “I’m sorry, there are no eggs in the street.” Whatever.. So I am just going to continue to love and drive my awesome car and put CarPlay out of my mind. Tired of torturing myself with false hopes. Maybe some day, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

      • Alex (@FedFanForever) - 8 years ago

        I’m even further off. I’m driving an 2007 Honda CR-V with the highest tech dashboard option being an Aux-Input. Thank god for that, or I’d not even be able to use a smartphone. Given Honda is dithering on CarPlay, I decided to extend my warranty for 4 years. By then I figure the CR-V will have it built-in and battle-tested.

    • Alex (@FedFanForever) - 8 years ago

      CarPlay is your deciding factor for the car instead of the basics like handling, safety, comfort?

      • Barbara Eberly - 8 years ago

        CarPlay was not deciding factor, but a bonus in buying the 2014 Civic Coupe EX, with CVT model. I watched videos on safety crash testing done by an insurance institute, not sure of name of it. The model I bought has 360W stereo system, sunroof, superb handling, comfortable seats, on and on. This is my third new Honda Civic since my 2003 LX; I also had 2006 LX. There was all this hype about iOS in the Car at all the 2014 Auto Shows, so I wanted what was promised and was very disappointed that they (Honda and Apple) did not follow through. And I could never get a straight answer from anyone. I finally just let it go and stopped asking…

  8. shareef777 - 8 years ago

    I worked up a deal to trade in my 2013 Accord Touring for the 2016 Accord Touring. I loved the subtle changes they made to the car (primarily CarPlay) and really loved driving around my Accord. Before signing the deal I took the opportunity to leverage a deal for my wife’s car too (also a huge Apple fan). We noticed the Odyssey wasn’t upgraded and had the old crappy system for the 2016s. So we worked up a deal for the Pilot Touring only to find out that the 2016 has the same exact designed console (physical appearance), but doesn’t have CarPlay. That broke the deal for both cars!

  9. Daniel Brunson - 8 years ago

    One of the selling points, and reason for my 2015 CRV purchase, was because I was told that it would be compatible with CarPlay once it came out. That was back in late 2014. I was then guaranteed again by my Honda dealer that they were still working on the release date. my system would be upgrade-able through a software (firmware) update, and it would be in mid to late 2015. It’s now 2016, still no release date and I keep hearing from several sources that it won’t be compatible with my CRV due to both the hardware and software requirements in the vehicle… Very frustrating. I don’t know what they are trying to pull but I’ve seen CarPlay work on the older infotainment systems in both the 2104 and 2015 models. I have what’s considered to be their latest infotainment model and a friend of mine was a beta tester for CarPlay in his CRV. Still has it works great, albeit a few querks which were promised to be fixed when the final version was released.

    • Don Montalvo - 8 years ago

      Well, I just bought a 2016 Honda CR-V Touring CVT and I went in knowing CarPlay won’t be there. I still have Siri though, so I can manage my music. I haven’t figured out how to deal with incoming TXT messages yet, something I’ve got to be able to respond to quickly (my decision; not my bosses or family’s). The Touring high end model has the best NAV ever in a Honda, but I’ve got to tell you, its design is comparable to a bucket full of armpits.

  10. Eugene Brana - 8 years ago

    If you retrict the radio eventually we are going to go back to the phone put some sense in the things you’re doing!!

  11. Jeff Fargo - 8 years ago

    I have CarPlay in my accord and it’s awful! VERY glitchy, and I get NO support or help from Honda. When my phone’s plugged in and I’m listening to the radio, it randomly changes to a book I have on Audible or to my iTunes list. It’s the worst, and Honda has done nothing to help rectify the situation.

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

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