Wireless Apple CarPlay Adapter tested and works! AMA

tjnptel1 said:
Have you noticed the battery draining alot faster with wireless carplay enabled?
Click to expand...


The phone battery? No it’s just WiFi and that doesn’t drain battery noticeably faster.

But I will say my entire goal for wireless CarPlay wasn’t to be cable free.

It was to be able to fast charge. iPhones cannot both fast charge and have a cable data connection to a device. Because fast charge uses the data lanes of the USB to “confirm” a compatible charger. Else it will default to 1A standard charging when plugged into any car / wired CarPlay system.

So when I go wireless CarPlay, I freed up my lightning port to receive a full 2.4A fast charge current. Not many people know this, or know that’s “why” their phone keeps dying despite being plugged in. Imagine a daytime Uber driver or DoorDash driver, iPhone XS Max running an OLED screen on FULL brightness with that 1A trickle charge… it won’t charge very fast if at all.


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2000se said:
So if I could find a JBL head unit from a 2020 if could swap out and at least wired CarPlay?
Click to expand...

As I understand it, all the connectors are different so you'd need to make, or find someone who sells, a harness to adapt one to the other. Even then, I don't know what other differences there may be.

Not sure if anyone has successfully done that transplant yet.
 
jp.vegas said:
As I understand it, all the connectors are different so you'd need to make, or find someone who sells, a harness to adapt one to the other. Even then, I don't know what other differences there may be.

Not sure if anyone has successfully done that transplant yet.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'd like to keep this as OEM as possible. Not too sure of the T10 unit. It's nice looking but most reviews of it are hit/miss.
 
2021nightshade4x4 said:
Which one, specifically? I sent an Amazon link in the initial post and a link to 2 different products from Seicane’s website much later in the thread.


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Click to expand...

Sorry for getting back to this a bit late, but the dongle I have is a Carlinkit 3.0 U2W on the latest firmware.

It’s a real shame for me because like I said before, when the device boots up properly it’s almost flawless. I’ve tried a bunch of different boot settings too in the configuration but I can’t get it to start up reliably at all.
 
xos4rnr said:
Sorry for getting back to this a bit late, but the dongle I have is a Carlinkit 3.0 U2W on the latest firmware.

It’s a real shame for me because like I said before, when the device boots up properly it’s almost flawless. I’ve tried a bunch of different boot settings too in the configuration but I can’t get it to start up reliably at all.
Click to expand...


From what I have heard, when people upgrade the firmware, it does screw things up for them.

1.) Test it out of the box, if it works, don’t upgrade.

2.) If glitchy out of the box, only then upgrade.

Not sure if you can downgrade again but you can try exchanging for a new one before they start shipping with the new firmware.

Finding one of these aftermarket things that actually works is like finding gold. And it only takes something as simple as a software update to mess it back up again.

If you’re in IT it can be completely counterintuitive NOT instinctively updating something. I don’t think these updates are security related. More like they “think” they’re fixing a bug and it actually closes a loophole that allowed it to work in the first place.


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2021nightshade4x4 said:
From what I have heard, when people upgrade the firmware, it does screw things up for them.

1.) Test it out of the box, if it works, don’t upgrade.

2.) If glitchy out of the box, only then upgrade.

Not sure if you can downgrade again but you can try exchanging for a new one before they start shipping with the new firmware.

Finding one of these aftermarket things that actually works is like finding gold. And it only takes something as simple as a software update to mess it back up again.

If you’re in IT it can be completely counterintuitive NOT instinctively updating something. I don’t think these updates are security related. More like they “think” they’re fixing a bug and it actually closes a loophole that allowed it to work in the first place.


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Click to expand...

It’s performed more or less the same out of the box as it has after a few firmware updates at this point. It works well when the device boots up properly, the issue is that it only boots up without errors 20% of the time.

Exchanging it is probably impossible considering they don’t even answer my basic support email questions (I’ve reached out four separate times at this point).

Out of curiosity, what firmware version are you currently running? Could you also share the boot settings you are using? I’m curious if mine are different.
 
xos4rnr said:
It’s performed more or less the same out of the box as it has after a few firmware updates at this point. It works well when the device boots up properly, the issue is that it only boots up without errors 20% of the time.

Exchanging it is probably impossible considering they don’t even answer my basic support email questions (I’ve reached out four separate times at this point).

Out of curiosity, what firmware version are you currently running? Could you also share the boot settings you are using? I’m curious if mine are different.
Click to expand...


Let me check next time I’m in the vehicle and I’ll report back.

One thing I just remembered is my wife DID report something really weird when she tried to take a FaceTime call and was still connected to the adapter. Like one way audio or no video or something.


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Update:

Tested CarlinKit 4.0：

Works great as long as it's not using the latest/experimental firmware. I was at 2022.07.29.1635 which I recommend. The newest one had some display glitches on CarPlay and some voice assistant issues on AndroidAuto.
5/6 user input methods supported (only fast-forward with the steering wheel is not working).

Pros:
Fast boot up (had to set the boot delay to 6 seconds, to make sure that my Discover Media is ready before the adapter is ready),
Supports GPS pass-though, which I highly value in those adapters,
Supports AndroidAuto on Android phones.

Cons (just minor ones):
hate to device color,
USB-C port is deep and not all 3rd party cables will be able to reach the port.
 
How is the lag using this version? For example, watching a video does the audio sync up with the video. Or, if making a call, is there lag on either end?

heelisleelu34 said:
Update:

Tested CarlinKit 4.0：

Works great as long as it's not using the latest/experimental firmware. I was at 2022.07.29.1635 which I recommend. The newest one had some display glitches on CarPlay and some voice assistant issues on AndroidAuto.
5/6 user input methods supported (only fast-forward with the steering wheel is not working).

Pros:
Fast boot up (had to set the boot delay to 6 seconds, to make sure that my Discover Media is ready before the adapter is ready),
Supports GPS pass-though, which I highly value in those adapters,
Supports AndroidAuto on Android phones.

Cons (just minor ones):
hate to device color,
USB-C port is deep and not all 3rd party cables will be able to reach the port.
Click to expand...
 
Just ordered the 5.0 off Amazon. I'll report back, but also... 2018 TRD ORP with a Kenwood deck.
I'd love to stop plugging in every time I get in/out of my ride...
 
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