The iPhone 8 and iOS 11 are coming in September. We are wondering, What is going to mean to connected car owners?
iPhone 8 reportedly will feature the new Bluetooth 5.0 standard and wireless charging via a Broadcom chip for PMA and Qi wireless charging. Several automakers feature wireless charging in their vehicles. Wireless charging, allows drivers to charge their iPhones without plugging them in.
Bluetooth 5 and quadruples range, doubles speed, and increases data broadcasting capacity by 800%. Higher speeds send data faster and optimize responsiveness. Increasing broadcast capacity will propel the next generation of “connectionless” services like beacons and location-relevant information and navigation.
TouchID is could to be replaced with “Face ID” this would cut down time ulocking iPhones in vehicles.
In June, Apple previewed iOS 11 it enhances Apple Pencil and brings augmented reality for developers to build apps. Core ML gives developers on-device machine learning capabilities so they can easily make apps that will predict, learn and become more intelligent. Users can pay friends using Apple Pay, Do Not Disturb while driving to help users stay more focused on the road, even more intelligence and a new voice for Siri and new professional capabilities to Photos and Camera.
Wireless CarPlay has been available for some time. However few receivers are compatible, yet. Only the iLX-107 from Alpine is wireless CarPlay compatible. It is suspected that Volkswagen will offer wireless CarPlay in the future.
Siri extends beyond voice, using on-device learning to deliver more personal experiences and offers suggestions based on personal usage of Safari, News, Mail, Messages and more.
For “Do Not Disturb” while driving. The iPhone detects when you may be driving and automatically silence notifications to keep the screen dark. Users have the option of sending an auto reply to contacts listed in Favorites to let them know they are driving and cannot respond until they arrive at their destination. It is supposed to cut down on distractions to prevent accidents.
One-handed keyboard mode on iPhone makes typing on the go even easier and a new QuickType keyboard on iPad delivers quick access to numbers, symbols and punctuation, this should not make driving with an iPhone easier because you shouldn’t be typing while driving.
SiriKit gives developers the ability to integrate Siri into their apps, and with iOS 11 it expands to support more categories, including to-do lists, notes and reminders; banking for account transfers and balances; and apps that display QR codes. This feature may enable automakers to improve their apps with Siri.
The major changes to Apple CarPlay will be lane guidance, suggesting the the correct lane for the route, speed limit and real-time alternative route suggestions in the Apple Maps section. Some users don’t like Apple Maps when they compare it to Google Maps or Waze. Maps will show real-time ETA changes.
App icons on the CarPlay screen show recently used app on the right side of the screen. You will be able take screenshots by double-tapping or long-pressing the signal bars on the CarPlay screen to save for later.
The most important change for the iPhone 8 hopefully will be a much more powerful processor. CarPlay with live data uses a lot of computing power and we believe that CarPlay issues are related to drops in wireless signals and processor power. In the meantime we suspect that wireless carriers will be offering many great deals on iPhone 8 models while automakers try to catch up.