I JUST missed Apple Carplay...

[jone7724]

They are sold out and have been for awhile. Plus, its almost $500 for a product that just adds base Carplay & Android Auto when the T9 comes in just a bit more and provides a whole lot more specs.

I haven't made my decision yet, but I wasn't impressed with the Beat Sonic at that price point.

My hope is slim to none, but that Toyota offers some discount to pre 19 5th gens to upgrade the radio. Won't happen though

They have been back in stock intermittently over the last few days. I went ahead and ordered one, gets here today. These few videos sort of helped me make the decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STjTk36R45U&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRn_SJNKwW4&feature=youtu.be


T9 still seems to be a work in progress (not interested in buggy CarPlay) and $4k+ for a new 2020 OEM head unit is just out of the question for me. I'll report back my experience with the BeatSonic Carplay mod.

 

[ctrporsche]

Do you guys think the new infotainment with apple carplay/android auto for the 2020s can be retrofitted into the 2019s or previous model years?

 

[ant the ninja]

Do you guys think the new infotainment with apple carplay/android auto for the 2020s can be retrofitted into the 2019s or previous model years?

I think you can do it but its something like $4k. I wouldn't bother yet though, if you have an iPhone 11 or 11 Pro atleast. I have a 2020 4Runner and cannot use carplay to make or receive calls. It cuts the call in and out and freezes the entire system up. This ONLY happens with my 11 Pro. I have tested it an iPhone 7 and 8 and this does not happen. Its only the 11/11 Pro running the latest software and so far this issue has only affected me in the 4Runner but no other vehicle I have.

Carplay Issues with 2020 4Runner

 

[6thFairway]

I have a 2016 TE with Entune Premium and my iPhone X does the same thing- locks up the radio and reboots it- repeatedly about every 60 seconds or so when bluetooth is connected. I had to remove all my phone settings from the 4runner and uninstall Entune and just use the phone without bluetooth in the car. Very annoying to have to use speaker phone instead of bluetooth through the 4runner, so I'm considering my options. The dealership says I need to replace the radio for $870 plus tax. If I go that route, I'm going aftermarket instead.

 

[4gambler]

On the 2020s IT IS NOT WIRELESS ANDROID AUTO OR APPLE KRAP.

BIG DEAL !!! FANBOY.

 

[ZenArcade]

2019 TRD ORP/Entune Audio/Nav. Purchased in last month. I thought I would jump immediately and update head unit. I'm finding that just using my iPhone over bluetooth or USB (for charging) is good enough for me atm. No dropouts and works really well. I also have iPad Pro 11 (LTE) that I'll mount up, so multimedia should be covered. Additional investment in head unit seems redundant. Dropping cash on other stuff like crazy though lol.

 

[4Regrets]

If they made a version of the 4Runner without a touch screen, Bluetooth. CarPlay, or any of that other garbage I would buy it in a heartbeat. My biggest gripe with modern cars is having a gigantic flipping distraction situated perfectly to draw your eyes away from the road. I would even do away with that stupid digital display between the speedo and tach on the dashboard. It adds nothing to the driving experience, it's just extraneous and distracting.

 

[meder24]

They have been back in stock intermittently over the last few days. I went ahead and ordered one, gets here today. These few videos sort of helped me make the decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STjTk36R45U&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRn_SJNKwW4&feature=youtu.be


T9 still seems to be a work in progress (not interested in buggy CarPlay) and $4k+ for a new 2020 OEM head unit is just out of the question for me. I'll report back my experience with the BeatSonic Carplay mod.

Very interested to hear how you like the Beat Sonic mod. Please respond back once you have had it a while!

 

[jone7724]

Very interested to hear how you like the Beat Sonic mod. Please respond back once you have had it a while!

Overall I love it and glad I pulled the trigger. There are several drawbacks though, and they are all listed on the product page on their website...

Cons (in order of annoyance to me personally):

1. Cannot skip songs or seek within the track via the steering wheel, missing that much more than I thought I would... (this is all done on the touch screen instead, which I've learned to do well enough but it's still annoying)
2. Screen looks awful, which bothered me initially but now that I've settled in with it it doesn't bother me much but it looked shockingly bad when I first booted it up. In a world where everything is 4k/retina/HD, it looks pathetic, even if functional. It's pretty difficult to see what's on the screen if I have the windows down and sun is hitting the screen- but not sure that would be any different in the 2020 model with OEM Car Play...
3. Have to double press (slowly) the volume nob twice upon each car start to switch to CarPlay mode. Just feels awkward- especially with other people in the car, and I still tend to either press too quickly or too slow. Maybe it will bother me less once I get better at it.

Additionally...
Had one instance this last weekend where car was parked out in the direct sun without sunshade for about 6 hours, sun hitting the dash directly, and the Car Play mod didn't function when I started the car until the cabin cooled off. Scared **** out of me but it's been working fine since. The silver lining there is that when that happens you can very easily just switch back to standard Entune by hitting the volume nob twice and you're in business with the OEM functionality.

Install was pretty easy- I'm a mega noob but still got it done in a couple hours in the dark (with lamps of course). Hardest part is organizing the wires and figuring out where to put everything, I found that frustrating. But again- this is my first time modifying the head unit.

All of the Car Play functionality is there and it works terrifically. No crashing, no bugs. The touch screen works great, and is responsive. For me this makes it must have. I know lots of people aren't impressed with CarPlay but I certainly am and I was so underwhelmed/frustrated with the OEM Nav that the $445 price tag was worth it to be able to seamlessly use Waze for the next 6+ years or so I plan on owning the vehicle.

With regard to future Car Play updates, I did reach out to BeatSonic prior to purchasing and they assured me they would support the mod with firmware updates for at least 5 years, so that eased my concerns about the potential for it to brick on a future iOS update. For what it's worth it does have the newest version of CarPlay installed that came out a month or so ago.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions. Overall I do recommend it if you're a person that has already used CarPlay and loves it.

 

[meder24]

[*]Screen looks awful, which bothered me initially but now that I've settled in with it it doesn't bother me much but it looked shockingly bad when I first booted it up. In a world where everything is 4k/retina/HD, it looks pathetic, even if functional. It's pretty difficult to see what's on the screen if I have the windows down and sun is hitting the screen- but not sure that would be any different in the 2020 model with OEM Car Play...
.

Is it the resolution that is bad or the brightness. They do not get very close to the screen but are you saying the resolution is worse than shown on the two Youtube videos?

 

[jone7724]

Is it the resolution that is bad or the brightness. They do not get very close to the screen but are you saying the resolution is worse than shown on the two Youtube videos?

The resolution is bad. The brightness is probably why I can't see it when sun is hitting it through open windows but I think the brightness is reasonable. Resolution is awful. Legible, functional, but leaves a lot to be desired when juxtaposed to all the other standard gadgets with screens in 2019. I'll snap a few pictures of it and post them so you can see.

 

[jone7724]

The resolution is bad. The brightness is probably why I can't see it when sun is hitting it through open windows but I think the brightness is reasonable. Resolution is awful. Legible, functional, but leaves a lot to be desired when juxtaposed to all the other standard gadgets with screens in 2019. I'll snap a few pictures of it and post them so you can see.

Apologies for delay. Here are some examples of the screen at dusk. Frankly it looks pretty good in this scenario. More to follow soon.

 

[jone7724]

The resolution is bad. The brightness is probably why I can't see it when sun is hitting it through open windows but I think the brightness is reasonable. Resolution is awful. Legible, functional, but leaves a lot to be desired when juxtaposed to all the other standard gadgets with screens in 2019. I'll snap a few pictures of it and post them so you can see.

Here you can see the screen when it is in direct sunlight (with windows down). This is coming home from a weekend of camping, so apologies for the dust- although I'm sure many can relate.
Very difficult to see, but again, not sure it would be any different with any other screen. I experience this same issue with my Iphone XS Max, for example...

 

[R&R4life]

Apple CarPlay on a 2019

Toyota will install an update to give you CarPlay on a 2019 I booked my appointment today


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I live in NY. What dealer are you going to?

 

[JP421]

I live in NY. What dealer are you going to?

So far there are zero reports of someone actually just getting this. Just multiple rumors that it can be done.

I'd really like to see this done on a 2019.

 

[vscarlett]

2019 messing up

What's wrong with your Bluetooth? Running with Bluetooth with Iphone 7 and havent experienced any issues.

I just bought my 4R in July brand new... LOVE it until about a month ago, when my Bluetooth started messing up. It will connect when I turn car on, then within 5 min. its rebooting and starting over and over and over and over.....Very frustrating.

 

[SlayBrax]

I bought mine a week ago, the one feature I wanted was the adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency brakes. Apple Carplay would've been nice!

Guess we'll just have to wait till the 6th gen...

Hey guys, I’m new here but been following for years. I finally went broke and bought a 2020 Limited. We literally bought the 1st one that hit the lot at Toyota of Chattanooga. The instant we test drove it and saw it had adaptive cruise control, lane departure and car play we immediately went back and signed papers to bring her home. We went with the pearl white and redwood interior limited. I was partial to the TRD PRO but we have kids so the 3rd row will come in handy. About to install a roof rack and have been looking at doing a few minor mods. The roof rack faring I’ve ordered the TOYOTA lettering to install on the faring. Haven’t seen anyone do it so thought I would try it out and see how it looks.

 

[-E5J-]

I just bought my 4R in July brand new... LOVE it until about a month ago, when my Bluetooth started messing up. It will connect when I turn car on, then within 5 min. its rebooting and starting over and over and over and over.....Very frustrating.

Are you still having this issue? If so, there is a fix if you're using an iPhone with the latest iOS.

***SOLVED*** 2019 TRD Pro JBL premium head unit constantly rebooting

 

[Irishperil]

What's keeping me from getting an 7" screen aftermarket head unit with Carplay is it looks all generic with all of that extra space on the sides.

So the bigger screen on the 2020 4Runner seems promising but too bad no has a picture yet.

This is what you end up with when going to an aftermarket head unit huh? No offense to your specific install, but damn that's not too pretty.

As I understand it, the choices are :
Go for LOOKS and keep stock head unit, but upgrade all speakers and add an amp to power it all so the head unit is just controlling sources, but lose out on Apple CarPlay, a possible DVD player, and advanced EQ control.
ORRRRR
Go for FEATURES and replace head unit and gain the features, but lose aesthetics and deal with all that dash plastic.

 

[flyfishin]

Here you can see the screen when it is in direct sunlight (with windows down). This is coming home from a weekend of camping, so apologies for the dust- although I'm sure many can relate.
Very difficult to see, but again, not sure it would be any different with any other screen. I experience this same issue with my Iphone XS Max, for example...

Would you say that those pictures are worst case scenario? Based on all the dust and the bright sun it looks like it. The resolution on the the stock HU is not great but I think I could live with it if everything functions well. I see complaints about the HALO resolution as well so this still looks like a viable option to me. Sound quality is my biggest beef with the entune HU. You really need a DSP to get the most out of aftermarket speakers and amps and that is another $ 400 +/-. That is where I am now. Either get this and a DSP or just replace the HU. Would like to keep stock if this works because of the look and feel vs aftermarket.

Thanks for the review and please update us on how it performs.