BMW to Charge $80 Annual Fee for Apple CarPlay

Greg Fink, reporting for Car and Driver:

BMW will turn Apple CarPlay into a subscription service beginning with its 2019-model-year vehicles.

The German automaker currently charges a one-time $300 to add Apple CarPlay capability to navigation-equipped BMW models. Going forward, though, navigation-equipped BMWs will come with CarPlay at no charge for one year. Following that first year, customers will need to pay an annual fee of $80 to maintain the relationship between their Apple device and their BMW’s infotainment system.

That is some serious next-level bullshit right there.

Update: Turns out this story is 18 months old — and I linked to it then, too! — but is somehow making the rounds again now (perhaps because this is the year when it took effect).

★ Tuesday, 23 July 2019