Rivian today unveiled its second-generation R1S and R1T vehicles, which our friends over at Electrek have covered in-depth. For Apple users, however, there are two new features worth calling out. While Rivian still doesn’t support CarPlay, it has added support for Apple’s car key platform as well as Apple Music with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos.
Rivian adds car key and Apple Music
Apple’s car key feature lets users add their car key to the Wallet app, then use the Wallet app on iPhone or Apple Watch to lock, unlock, and start their car. The feature was first unveiled at WWDC 2020 and is still slowly expanding to new vehicles.
In its press release announcing the new R1T and R1S, Rivian says:
Rivian owners can use car keys in Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch, or with select Google Pixel devices, to seamlessly unlock and start up their vehicles, and even share keys digitally with family and friends.
Meanwhile, Rivian cars equipped with the “Premium Audio” package now offer support for Dolby Atmos. Customers can subscribe to a new Connect+ service from Rivian to gain access to Apple Music. Rivian says it worked closely with Apple to design this experience, including support for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos:
Connect+, a new subscription service, supports streaming video through Google Cast and provides access to more than 3,000 apps, seamlessly bringing your favorite entertainment right into your R1’s center display. For Connect+, Rivian also worked closely with the Apple Music team to deeply integrate this feature into Rivian’s software platform. Rivian’s Connect+ gives customers access to Apple Music’s catalog of over 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists, ad-free. With Rivian Premium Audio, they can also hear sound all around with Apple Music’s Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos.
Pricing for the second generation R1S will start at $75,900 and R1T will start at $69,900, and deliveries are available starting today. Learn more about Rivian’s announcements over on Electrek.
Follow Chance: Threads, Twitter, Instagram, and Mastodon.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments