Ford just announced that CarPlay is coming to all of its 2016 model vehicles via software update. CarPlay requires an iPhone 5 or later, and running iOS 7.1 or later. You can either take your car to the nearest Ford dealer for the Ford CarPlay update, or do it yourself.
Over the Air Ford CarPlay
You can download the Ford CarPlay update yourself from Ford’s owner support website, which says:
Customers can update their software by visiting owner.ford.com to download and install with a USB drive, or by visiting a dealership. Customers with Wi-Fi-enabled vehicles and a Wi-Fi network can set up their vehicle to receive the update automatically.
Older Vehicles
Ford’s 2017 cars already support CarPlay. If you have an older model from 2011 or later with Sync, you can use Siri Hands Free. This won’t give you full CarPlay features but you’ll have some access to Siri.
I don’t know… I have a suction cup mount that I have attached to my dashboard, a cable I have to plug in my auxilary input, and a lightning cable attached to the cigarette lighter. Seems to work just fine for under $35!
I put a Pioneer unit in my 2007 F-150 last year and I love it. It only has 90k miles, and I’d love to keep it around for 200k. I wish my 2014 Explorer was upgradable, if for navigation alone. But, like Lee said, at least Siri is better than nothing 🙂
Pioneer, Alpine and Kenwood make after market CarPlay units. You are right about the cost. Our second vehicle could use a new system; but one of these would be impractical since it is a 2000 Camry. In a year or two this vehicle will be gone anyway.
Replacement stereos with Carplay are $500 at the cheapest, plus installation. I am thinking that a simple BlueTooth one is a better choice considering the age of the pickup truck and how little I actually drive it.
We have 2014 Ford Focus and I wish that it was upgradeable to CarPlay. The Siri feature is better than nothing.
The stereo in my 2003 pickup truck is starting to fail; the volume knob doesn’t always adjust the volume. I am wondering if there is a replacement unit that has CarPlay.