Wireless Apple CarPlay goes on sale

Alpine’s iLX-107 receiver makes wireless Apple CarPlay available to any driver. Image: Alpine via AFP Relaxnews

After the technology made its debut at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January, Alpine has now put the iLX-107 on sale, which is the first Apple CarPlay receiver with support for wireless connectivity. So, if your car’s audio system doesn’t support CarPlay but you use an iPhone, you no longer have to wait for your manufacturer to do an update or buy another car to enjoy the full level of connectivity.

Drivers of a certain age will remember the days when it was pretty much up to you what kind of sound system you had in your car. The unit your car came with was a starting point, and in no time you could whip it out and replace it with something better, which usually meant more power and features. Nowadays, audio systems are a fully integrated part of the dash and the vehicle’s systems as a whole, so what’s in there is basically what you’re stuck with.

The Alpine iLX-107 receiver is compatible with the iPhone 5 onwards, and allows CarPlay to be accessed through the touch screen as well as by Siri voice control. It then delivers the complete CarPlay experience so you are able to make voice calls, read texts, choose music and get real-time traffic updates. Although it will still depend on the particular vehicle, in many cases you should also be able to receive vehicle information too, such as park assist. The best thing is that there’s no need to connect a cable as the receiver simply connects your phone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

There have been CarPlay receivers for sale for a while now, but until now they have all required a physical connection. The Alpine unit is the first to offer wireless connectivity.

There is one drawback though, and it means you’re really, really going to have to want Apple CarPlay connectivity if you’re going to buy the Alpine iLX-107. The price at launch is an eye-watering $900 (over P45,000).

For that kind of money, it would probably make more sense to buy another smartphone, as long as your vehicle is already compatible with Android AutoPlay, that is. JB