[sblvro]

The Artura supports Android Auto, so I’d expect future mclarens too as well. A bummer about the 750. AFAIK CarPlay doesn’t put anything in the driver’s dash in any car yet. I want to say that’s only just started to happen with new products. My memory is fuzzy but I want to say Ferrari and Porsche said something about this.

I will say that I’ve lived many years with just Bluetooth audio support and it was fine. You can still run your maps and get voice directions, along with a phone holder either properly on the window or cheap in the cup holder like me. Siri is my co-pilot even if she has to shout over the tunes and v8.

https://www.caranddriver.com/car-accessories/g45104251/best-car-phone-mounts/

I think voice directions from the iphone bluetooth plus the nav directions from the oem(tomtom) nav should be sufficient that you don't have to upgrade to a 750S if your concern is only about the carplay. if the carplay works in the 750s that should be good too. the 750s is there because of the upgraded stereo, wings, weight loss and added power. hopefully I can get a good comparison when I take delivery of my 750 as well.

 

[eMcL]

I think voice directions from the iphone bluetooth plus the nav directions from the oem(tomtom) nav should be sufficient that you don't have to upgrade to a 750S if your concern is only about the carplay. if the carplay works in the 750s that should be good too. the 750s is there because of the upgraded stereo, wings, weight loss and added power. hopefully I can get a good comparison when I take delivery of my 750 as well.

Think 750S will work with iPhone and Waze - it works well in Artura with C cable connection haven’t tried using bluetooth.

 

[sblvro]

Think 750S will work with iPhone and Waze - it works well in Artura with C cable connection haven’t tried using bluetooth.

yes wired for the carplay

 

[964Cup]

Wired Carplay in the 750s works fine. I've just bought a fruit phone so as not to have to rely on the woeful inbuilt nav software. Wireless Carplay too, apparently, but I'm reserving Bluetooth for my actual (non-fruit) phone. No Android Auto. Apparently Carplay doesn't support secondary display in the dash, which would explain why they didn't bother with including those features even though they were present in the 720. The phone arrived today so I'll report back in a week or so with findings on the reality of crossing between two connected devices; I'm also at the MTC on the 3rd and will try to find out what the plans are for software upgrades.

 

[xero]

Wired Carplay in the 750s works fine. I've just bought a fruit phone so as not to have to rely on the woeful inbuilt nav software. Wireless Carplay too, apparently, but I'm reserving Bluetooth for my actual (non-fruit) phone. No Android Auto. Apparently Carplay doesn't support secondary display in the dash, which would explain why they didn't bother with including those features even though they were present in the 720. The phone arrived today so I'll report back in a week or so with findings on the reality of crossing between two connected devices; I'm also at the MTC on the 3rd and will try to find out what the plans are for software upgrades.

Didn’t think it supported wireless CarPlay, that would be a welcome surprise. Looking forward to your findings.

 

[964Cup]

Well, as a starter for 10, Apple product is marginally more shit now than it was last time I tried it. Which is to say really really really shit. Having finally found a way to copy files to the blasted thing - via our Synology, because God forbid you should simply be able to drag them across a USB connection - I then wasted a couple of hours trying to find a media player that would simply play the files from local storage. This appears not to be a thing in the land of Fisher Price computers for the hard of thinking, so I've deleted the files I so agonisingly copied across and have now - very very reluctantly - added the horrific iTunes bloatware to my PC. That's busy importing 100Gb of MP3s and ruining them by converting them to AAC - and is insisting on playing random snippets of the songs as it does so. Now I have to work out how to move all the ruined tracks across to the phone and see if I can at least get Apple Music to play them.

Android: connect phone, allow access, copy files, install Musicolet, done.
Apple: connect phone, click "trust", see phone in Explorer, folder is empty and no write permissions, swear, make public share of Synology backup folder, connect to that from phone, copy files, install 27 different apps none of which work properly (some, e.g., VLC will play individual tracks, but none of them have an option to import whole folders and all of them seem have fucking adverts everywhere - I despise advertising), swear, delete all 27 useless apps, delete 100Gb folder, install iTunes, duplicate 100Gb of data in inferior format, connect device, click "trust" for the 87th time, tell Iphones to manage the device (doh, really?), nothing happens, swear, sign in, wait for unwanted two-factor authentication, enter stupid code, disconnect device, reconnect device, click "trust" for the 88th time, nothing happens, wait, "welcome to your new iPhone smiley smiley happy happy rainbows", click past stupid tour, get rid of stupid Apple Music ad in iPhone, hit sync, error, go back to library, tell the stupid thing you want to sync the music library, hit apply, spinny spinny thing but no actual progress bar, shrug, click done, click device icon, finally get progress bar, note that it's doing 2 of 10,009 tracks per second, settle in for very long wait.

I hate Apple. I hate their stupid walled garden. I hate that the interface was designed by children for children. Everything seems to have ads, pop-ups, desires to notify you, but nothing actually seems to work. Stupid non-standard connectors, hopeless app store with no apparent sorting options, horrible interface with no buttons just gestures that you're apparently supposed to know in some Chomskian innate grammar fashion because God forbid they should provide any documentation. Gah. I want a computing device, not a child's plaything.

[/rant]

TLDR; Apple sucks. I haven't connected the phone to the car yet. This could all be a gigantic waste of time.

 

[invisiblewave]

Well, as a starter for 10, Apple product is marginally more shit now than it was last time I tried it. Which is to say really really really shit. Having finally found a way to copy files to the blasted thing - via our Synology, because God forbid you should simply be able to drag them across a USB connection - I then wasted a couple of hours trying to find a media player that would simply play the files from local storage. This appears not to be a thing in the land of Fisher Price computers for the hard of thinking, so I've deleted the files I so agonisingly copied across and have now - very very reluctantly - added the horrific iTunes bloatware to my PC. That's busy importing 100Gb of MP3s and ruining them by converting them to AAC - and is insisting on playing random snippets of the songs as it does so. Now I have to work out how to move all the ruined tracks across to the phone and see if I can at least get Apple Music to play them.

Android: connect phone, allow access, copy files, install Musicolet, done.
Apple: connect phone, click "trust", see phone in Explorer, folder is empty and no write permissions, swear, make public share of Synology backup folder, connect to that from phone, copy files, install 27 different apps none of which work properly (some, e.g., VLC will play individual tracks, but none of them have an option to import whole folders and all of them seem have fucking adverts everywhere - I despise advertising), swear, delete all 27 useless apps, delete 100Gb folder, install iTunes, duplicate 100Gb of data in inferior format, connect device, click "trust" for the 87th time, tell Iphones to manage the device (doh, really?), nothing happens, swear, sign in, wait for unwanted two-factor authentication, enter stupid code, disconnect device, reconnect device, click "trust" for the 88th time, nothing happens, wait, "welcome to your new iPhone smiley smiley happy happy rainbows", click past stupid tour, get rid of stupid Apple Music ad in iPhone, hit sync, error, go back to library, tell the stupid thing you want to sync the music library, hit apply, spinny spinny thing but no actual progress bar, shrug, click done, click device icon, finally get progress bar, note that it's doing 2 of 10,009 tracks per second, settle in for very long wait.

I hate Apple. I hate their stupid walled garden. I hate that the interface was designed by children for children. Everything seems to have ads, pop-ups, desires to notify you, but nothing actually seems to work. Stupid non-standard connectors, hopeless app store with no apparent sorting options, horrible interface with no buttons just gestures that you're apparently supposed to know in some Chomskian innate grammar fashion because God forbid they should provide any documentation. Gah. I want a computing device, not a child's plaything.

[/rant]

TLDR; Apple sucks. I haven't connected the phone to the car yet. This could all be a gigantic waste of time.

This. I've never owned an Apple product and I never will. I don't think you tried hard enough to find a better solution, but I feel your pain! lol

 

[jobama1]

Well, as a starter for 10, Apple product is marginally more shit now than it was last time I tried it. Which is to say really really really shit. Having finally found a way to copy files to the blasted thing - via our Synology, because God forbid you should simply be able to drag them across a USB connection - I then wasted a couple of hours trying to find a media player that would simply play the files from local storage. This appears not to be a thing in the land of Fisher Price computers for the hard of thinking, so I've deleted the files I so agonisingly copied across and have now - very very reluctantly - added the horrific iTunes bloatware to my PC. That's busy importing 100Gb of MP3s and ruining them by converting them to AAC - and is insisting on playing random snippets of the songs as it does so. Now I have to work out how to move all the ruined tracks across to the phone and see if I can at least get Apple Music to play them.

Android: connect phone, allow access, copy files, install Musicolet, done.
Apple: connect phone, click "trust", see phone in Explorer, folder is empty and no write permissions, swear, make public share of Synology backup folder, connect to that from phone, copy files, install 27 different apps none of which work properly (some, e.g., VLC will play individual tracks, but none of them have an option to import whole folders and all of them seem have fucking adverts everywhere - I despise advertising), swear, delete all 27 useless apps, delete 100Gb folder, install iTunes, duplicate 100Gb of data in inferior format, connect device, click "trust" for the 87th time, tell Iphones to manage the device (doh, really?), nothing happens, swear, sign in, wait for unwanted two-factor authentication, enter stupid code, disconnect device, reconnect device, click "trust" for the 88th time, nothing happens, wait, "welcome to your new iPhone smiley smiley happy happy rainbows", click past stupid tour, get rid of stupid Apple Music ad in iPhone, hit sync, error, go back to library, tell the stupid thing you want to sync the music library, hit apply, spinny spinny thing but no actual progress bar, shrug, click done, click device icon, finally get progress bar, note that it's doing 2 of 10,009 tracks per second, settle in for very long wait.

I hate Apple. I hate their stupid walled garden. I hate that the interface was designed by children for children. Everything seems to have ads, pop-ups, desires to notify you, but nothing actually seems to work. Stupid non-standard connectors, hopeless app store with no apparent sorting options, horrible interface with no buttons just gestures that you're apparently supposed to know in some Chomskian innate grammar fashion because God forbid they should provide any documentation. Gah. I want a computing device, not a child's plaything.

[/rant]

TLDR; Apple sucks. I haven't connected the phone to the car yet. This could all be a gigantic waste of time.

I feel exactly how you feel and why i hope on everything that the next update has Android Auto....

But in the mean time I've been using my Android phone for music via Bluetooth, and the Apple phone only for navigation, you should be able to do both and you'll continue to get the navigation audio and music by connection to Carplay then backing out to the "audio" selection section and selecting BT, then you can go back into the carplay app

 

[964Cup]

Yep. It works. I bought an iPhone 12 mini and have spent the morning putting music on it (see above) and installing a couple of other useful apps, notably Waze. All is smooth with Carplay for nav and music and I can indeed continue to use BT for calls through the MIS. Not using it for music because I want the phone out of sight and we're not allowed to touch our phones in the UK unless they're in a hands-free holder. Last bits are to get a right-angled lightning to USB-C cable so that the phone fits into the cubby more easily; it will fit - that's why I bought a mini - but the cable is under some pressure, and to get a low-profile cigar lighter USB adapter for the front 12v socket so I can use that for my actual phone (since a) I can't get it into the cubby anyway and b) certainly not with the mini in there). I'll do some further research on how to configure the Carplay home screen and things like that, but for now problem solved for a mere £350 plus £30 a month for the SIM (unlimited bandwidth including European roaming, so not as expensive as it sounds). In McLaren terms that's essentially free.

I might see if there's an iPhone version of the app for the bluetooth OBD-II dongle I have lying around; be interesting to get a bit more data on the screen.

All I have to do now is actually drive the car. Still at 70 miles on the odometer...

 

[eMcL]

Yep. It works. I bought an iPhone 12 mini and have spent the morning putting music on it (see above) and installing a couple of other useful apps, notably Waze. All is smooth with Carplay for nav and music and I can indeed continue to use BT for calls through the MIS. Not using it for music because I want the phone out of sight and we're not allowed to touch our phones in the UK unless they're in a hands-free holder. Last bits are to get a right-angled lightning to USB-C cable so that the phone fits into the cubby more easily; it will fit - that's why I bought a mini - but the cable is under some pressure, and to get a low-profile cigar lighter USB adapter for the front 12v socket so I can use that for my actual phone (since a) I can't get it into the cubby anyway and b) certainly not with the mini in there). I'll do some further research on how to configure the Carplay home screen and things like that, but for now problem solved for a mere £350 plus £30 a month for the SIM (unlimited bandwidth including European roaming, so not as expensive as it sounds). In McLaren terms that's essentially free.

I might see if there's an iPhone version of the app for the bluetooth OBD-II dongle I have lying around; be interesting to get a bit more data on the screen.

All I have to do now is actually drive the car. Still at 70 miles on the odometer...

Try using ‘Siri’’ for Waze navigation, making phone calls, sending messages, selecting music etc all hands free. Not sure if microphone on iPhone will work in cubby though.

 

[964Cup]

Oh - and I did look for other options, but the only Android Auto to Carplay format converter that I could find that had any reviews was the Ottocast U2-X and the reviews for that were, shall we say, "mixed". I might try one, but from the sound of it, while they work (after many firmware updates) they're not stable. The use case here is very long European drives and instability would be boring. At least with a dedicated iPhone I can be reasonably certain that the two apps I care about will work reliably and the only thing I'll be missing is live access to messages - which is dangerous when driving. And anyway I refuse to use Whatsapp so any co-ordinating messaging on tours is handled by the superior command system and active speed limiter I've installed in the passenger seat.

 

[964Cup]

Try using ‘Siri’’ for Waze navigation, making phone calls, sending messages, selecting music etc all hands free. Not sure if microphone on iPhone will work in cubby though.

I don't talk to machines, and don't let them talk to me. If I did, Siri is integrated with Carplay and has a dedicated button for the voice interface on the end of the LH lower stalk. Annoyingly, in the McLaren at least, you have to enable Siri to enable Carplay at all. I may have to do some finagling to make sure Siri never engages since I can't switch the hideous thing off.

 

[964Cup]

Try using ‘Siri’’ for Waze navigation, making phone calls, sending messages, selecting music etc all hands free. Not sure if microphone on iPhone will work in cubby though.

Incidentally, if you meant this is as a bypass for the lack of Android Auto, and therefore meant use "Hey Google" (bleh) then see above re: machines should be seen and not heard, and are beneath my spoken attention. If I want a butler, I'll hire a butler, not an unreliable and inept approximation designed for a lifestyle about 5,300 miles separated from mine.

 

[eMcL]

I don't talk to machines, and don't let them talk to me. If I did, Siri is integrated with Carplay and has a dedicated button for the voice interface on the end of the LH lower stalk. Annoyingly, in the McLaren at least, you have to enable Siri to enable Carplay at all. I may have to do some finagling to make sure Siri never engages since I can't switch the hideous thing off.

Hmmm just avoid saying ‘siri’
When you visit Woking again could you ask about the probability of Driver position memory on the central screen similar to Artura being made available as an update on 750S?

 

[invisiblewave]

I don't talk to machines, and don't let them talk to me. If I did, Siri is integrated with Carplay and has a dedicated button for the voice interface on the end of the LH lower stalk. Annoyingly, in the McLaren at least, you have to enable Siri to enable Carplay at all. I may have to do some finagling to make sure Siri never engages since I can't switch the hideous thing off.

I can't speak for Siri, but Google is pretty good now, particularly when navigating. You can tell it to find petrol stations or parking on the route, for example, as well as telling it to call someone.

 

[964Cup]

Hmmm just avoid saying ‘siri’
When you visit Woking again could you ask about the probability of Driver position memory on the central screen similar to Artura being made available as an update on 750S?

I'm going to experiment. I think the mike is only active when you press the stalk button using wired Carplay. I hope so, because I can think of a number of words in our melange of languages that include the same phonemes and I dislike the idea of being spied on by a machine in the first place. Normally I disable Siri (on my wife's phone) and refuse to give any app other than the phone and voice recorder microphone access on mine.

I'll happily ask - but why not just use the buttons on the seat? Or am I missing something?

 

[eMcL]

I'm going to experiment. I think the mike is only active when you press the stalk button using wired Carplay. I hope so, because I can think of a number of words in our melange of languages that include the same phonemes and I dislike the idea of being spied on by a machine in the first place. Normally I disable Siri (on my wife's phone) and refuse to give any app other than the phone and voice recorder microphone access on mine.

I'll happily ask - but why not just use the buttons on the seat? Or am I missing something?

Perhaps mine is an unusual need. We have more than 2 drivers that use the car. So having more than 2 driver positions stored is desirable. On our Artura up to 5 positions can be stored. The original news release photos for the 750S included the photo shown below. I’ve circled the driver position storage symbol. But the 750S owners manual just shows the old 720S comfort seating controls and memory storage. Would like to know if McLaren intends to update the 750S to add this feature.

 

[964Cup]

I speak for Siri, but Google is pretty good now, particularly when navigating. You can tell it to find petrol stations or parking on the route, for example, as well as telling it to call someone.

It's not a functional objection, it's a principled one. Machines should not pretend to be human. I have the same objection to chatbots and suchlike. Partly it's a privacy concern; mainly it's one of manners - when a human fails to understand an instruction, it is (initially at least) assumed to be their fault; assuming your intentions were clear, it is for them to work out what was meant and then to comply. When a machine fails (try, e.g., the Amex IVR system, which I profoundly detest, particularly the spectacularly irritating Scots git they had voice it) it is always somehow your fault. This is particularly important if you were properly brought up in Britain, and therefore speak rapidly, elliptically and, all in all, not as expected by the machine. I do not wish to learn robot - I wish the robots to learn the King's English.

It's part of a wider issue about ownership and control - I will probably migrate from Windows (to Linux) at some point now that "it's a service" and they increasingly try to stop you controlling it - consider e.g. smart charging in Windows 11, which cannot be disabled permanently. Give me root access, a command line and an operating system I can modify, with a soldering iron if necessary, and then I'm happy.

Ultimately the car I sometimes like best is my 1964 Porsche 356. I have actually fixed that with a hammer (and a screwdriver and a special wrench) and it does exactly what you tell it, even if what you tell it is very stupid indeed. Contrast that to e.g. the Artura, where I couldn't work out how to stop it beeping every time I exceeded the speed limit by 0.1mph, or modern cars whose functionality can be changed at whim by the manufacturer - see e.g. BMW or Tesla. I digress.

 

[964Cup]

Perhaps mine is an unusual need. We have more than 2 drivers that use the car. So having more than 2 driver positions stored is desirable.

Understood. I'll ask. I plan to find someone with detailed knowledge of the electronics and buttonhole them quite severely.

 

[invisiblewave]

It's not a functional objection, it's a principled one. Machines should not pretend to be human. I have the same objection to chatbots and suchlike. Partly it's a privacy concern; mainly it's one of manners - when a human fails to understand an instruction, it is (initially at least) assumed to be their fault; assuming your intentions were clear, it is for them to work out what was meant and then to comply. When a machine fails (try, e.g., the Amex IVR system, which I profoundly detest, particularly the spectacularly irritating Scots git they had voice it) it is always somehow your fault. This is particularly important if you were properly brought up in Britain, and therefore speak rapidly, elliptically and, all in all, not as expected by the machine. I do not wish to learn robot - I wish the robots to learn the King's English.

It's part of a wider issue about ownership and control - I will probably migrate from Windows (to Linux) at some point now that "it's a service" and they increasingly try to stop you controlling it - consider e.g. smart charging in Windows 11, which cannot be disabled permanently. Give me root access, a command line and an operating system I can modify, with a soldering iron if necessary, and then I'm happy.

Ultimately the car I sometimes like best is my 1964 Porsche 356. I have actually fixed that with a hammer (and a screwdriver and a special wrench) and it does exactly what you tell it, even if what you tell it is very stupid indeed. Contrast that to e.g. the Artura, where I couldn't work out how to stop it beeping every time I exceeded the speed limit by 0.1mph, or modern cars whose functionality can be changed at whim by the manufacturer - see e.g. BMW or Tesla. I digress.

Lol. Admitting you have a problem is the first step! I thought I was bad....

I switched to Linux about 15 years ago, it's so much better. My recommendation would be Mint, unless you want to use RAID, in which case you'll want the Ubuntu server installer and then add the desktop once installed.