Volkswagen on Wednesday announced that the company’s first vehicles with CarPlay support have begun arriving at dealerships. The 2016 models are equipped with the company’s next-generation MIB-II infotainment system.
In addition to supporting CarPlay, the MIB-II system also includes support for Android Auto and it comes equipped with Volkswagen’s own Car-Net apps, enabling features like remote lock control, remote honk and flash, parking info, stolen vehicle location, automatic crash notifications, diagnostics, and vehicle monitoring. While CarPlay and the MIB-II system don’t carry a subscription fee, the Car-Net suite of apps will be priced at $199 per year with 6 months free up front.
While Volkswagen wasn’t one of the first to announce CarPlay support at CarPlay’s debut, it did announce in January that support would be available in its 2016 models.
Four different MIB-II systems will be offered by the German car maker. Entry-level VW models will include a 5-inch resistive 400×240 resolution touch screen that does not include CarPlay support, while 6.3 and 6.5-inch capacitive touchscreens that support multi-touch gestures, CarPlay, and App-Net will be available in select trims.
Higher priced models will include additional features, such as 2.5D navigation and more. The 2016 e-Golf SEL Premium model will boast an 8-inch capacitive touchscreen with CarPlay support.
