BMW Ships Some Cars Without Android Auto, CarPlay

Back in November, BMW said that it will be shipping some of its cars without touchscreen controls. This was due to the ongoing chip shortage affecting just about every tech field out there. Now, it looks like the company is doing something similar, that is, shipping cars without Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Automotive News Europe reports that most cars affected by this include the code 6P1 in their specification. BMW didn’t specify which models specifically, but the report cites customers from the US, UK, Italy, Spain and France have posted in forums regarding the matter.

As for why the features are missing, BMW states that this is because of the chips from a new supplier it is using for the affected cars. The company says that an upcoming over-the-air update will add in Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as WiFi capability “by the end of June at the latest”.

Overall, the lack of the Android Auto and Apple CarPlay isn’t as big a deal as not having touchscreen controls, since it can be fixed simply with an OTA update. But it seems a lot more widespread, not being confined to just the US. We’ve reached out to BMW Malaysia to find out if this is something that affects the local cars.

(Source: Automotive News Europe via Engadget)