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The Model 3’s system is one of the few out there that can actually compete with/replace CarPlay.

by bb123 4y ago

cjdoc29 4y ago
Agreed, but I have my gripes with the system. We waited a long time for Apple Music to come to the infotainment - and even then it's slow, you cannot adjust to a higher music quality, you can't download playlists to local storage, I need to login every month, etc. Additionally, my 2019 Model 3's infotainment is noticeably slower than a 2023's. I'd hate to be limited by compute in a car that I'll probably replace in 8 years. If it's my phone, the replacement time is much shorter (and much more affordable!). It would not stop me from buying another Tesla. The infotainment is generally fantastic (as is the rest of the car). But CarPlay would make the music and podcast experience so much better.
- zaroth 4y ago
  Tesla started shipping the new AMD based MCU3 at the end of 2021. MCU2 in previously Model 3s is an Intel Atom architecture. Previously Tesla offered MCU1 to MCU2 paid upgrades for Model S/X owners. It seems unlikely that Tesla will offer anything similar for MCU2 to MCU3 but not impossible that it could be done as a 3rd party retrofit. The connectors and physical dimensions are different so it’s not trivial.
owenwil 4y ago
It _is_ excellent, but it is annoyingly ignorant of integrating with phones. If you have an Android phone you can send and receive texts, but no other notifications come in and nothing else is projected there either. If you have an iPhone, it works _sometimes_ but I am rarely able to reply to messages using voice successfully. I wish it better extended into my phone, but it's largely because of Apple's rules, which I guess aren't Tesla's fault—but are a side-effect of not using carplay.
- bumby 4y ago
  While annoying, my real gripe is what this says about their development process. If you can’t get these things right, how can I trust that you will get the safety critical software right?
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > you can’t get these things right, how can I trust that you will get the safety critical software right Does any major car manufacturer routinely nail their infotainment systems?
    - Robotbeat 4y ago
      Yeah… I honestly think that altho the Tesla infotainment system isn’t perfect, if we’re gonna judge the safety competency of car companies based on how good their in-house infotainment is, Tesla’s would be far and above the best (until the Apple car comes out or something…).
    - bombcar 4y ago
      Infotainment is so horribly universally bad that Apple CarPlay and the Android equivalent came into being.
    - bumby 4y ago
      No, but other manufacturers are much more conservative about how they market their software (e.g., naming it ‘driver assist’ vs ‘autopilot’). It’s an obvious and explicit declaration that their software should not be relied on to be the main mitigation in safety-critical scenarios.
bratsche 4y ago
Model 3's system is better than other cars I've owned, but not as good as what I think CarPlay can be. The only advantage of my Model 3 vs the rental cars I've used with CarPlay was that Model 3's screen is bigger and nicer and so the maps look nicer and I can have music info/controls on screen at the same time as maps. But both Apple and Google navigation is a lot better than Tesla's navigation. I also use Apple Music and was initially excited about getting integration into Tesla, but I continue to just use it through my phone instead so it ended up not mattering. The one thing I hate about Tesla's system is the semi-frequent UI changes. A moving car with a touch screen is not the place where I want to have to re-learn some aspect of a UI after I get a system update.
- zaroth 4y ago
  The UI updates essentially once a year to keep up the with massive influx of features that are being added, and keep those features accessible and organized on the available screen real estate. Basically with Tesla you get the latest model year car software on an ongoing basis, and it’s revolutionary from an owner’s perspective. The alternative is needing to trade in/buy a whole new model year car to get to enjoy whatever new feature, which is how it always used to work, and is so scammy. If you don’t want the latest software, you can always choose not the install it, but you would be seriously limiting the performance, comfort, safety and entertainment value of your car. Most cars don’t get faster, safer, and cheaper to operate after you buy them, but Tesla’s do. The obvious trade-off to getting the latest model year’s software and features is getting the latest model year’s UI as well.

The Model 3’s system is one of the few out there that can actually compete with/replace CarPlay.

by bb123 4y ago

The Model 3’s system is one of the few out there that can actually compete with/replace CarPlay.

Agreed, but I have my gripes with the system. We waited a long time for Apple Music to come to the infotainment - and even then it's slow, you cannot adjust to a higher music quality, you can't download playlists to local storage, I need to login every month, etc. Additionally, my 2019 Model 3's infotainment is noticeably slower than a 2023's. I'd hate to be limited by compute in a car that I'll probably replace in 8 years. If it's my phone, the replacement time is much shorter (and much more affordable!). It would not stop me from buying another Tesla. The infotainment is generally fantastic (as is the rest of the car). But CarPlay would make the music and podcast experience so much better.

zaroth 4y ago
Tesla started shipping the new AMD based MCU3 at the end of 2021. MCU2 in previously Model 3s is an Intel Atom architecture. Previously Tesla offered MCU1 to MCU2 paid upgrades for Model S/X owners. It seems unlikely that Tesla will offer anything similar for MCU2 to MCU3 but not impossible that it could be done as a 3rd party retrofit. The connectors and physical dimensions are different so it’s not trivial.

owenwil 4y ago

It _is_ excellent, but it is annoyingly ignorant of integrating with phones. If you have an Android phone you can send and receive texts, but no other notifications come in and nothing else is projected there either. If you have an iPhone, it works _sometimes_ but I am rarely able to reply to messages using voice successfully. I wish it better extended into my phone, but it's largely because of Apple's rules, which I guess aren't Tesla's fault—but are a side-effect of not using carplay.

bumby 4y ago
While annoying, my real gripe is what this says about their development process. If you can’t get these things right, how can I trust that you will get the safety critical software right?
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > you can’t get these things right, how can I trust that you will get the safety critical software right Does any major car manufacturer routinely nail their infotainment systems?
  - Robotbeat 4y ago
    Yeah… I honestly think that altho the Tesla infotainment system isn’t perfect, if we’re gonna judge the safety competency of car companies based on how good their in-house infotainment is, Tesla’s would be far and above the best (until the Apple car comes out or something…).
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Infotainment is so horribly universally bad that Apple CarPlay and the Android equivalent came into being.
  - bumby 4y ago
    No, but other manufacturers are much more conservative about how they market their software (e.g., naming it ‘driver assist’ vs ‘autopilot’). It’s an obvious and explicit declaration that their software should not be relied on to be the main mitigation in safety-critical scenarios.

bratsche 4y ago

Model 3's system is better than other cars I've owned, but not as good as what I think CarPlay can be. The only advantage of my Model 3 vs the rental cars I've used with CarPlay was that Model 3's screen is bigger and nicer and so the maps look nicer and I can have music info/controls on screen at the same time as maps. But both Apple and Google navigation is a lot better than Tesla's navigation. I also use Apple Music and was initially excited about getting integration into Tesla, but I continue to just use it through my phone instead so it ended up not mattering. The one thing I hate about Tesla's system is the semi-frequent UI changes. A moving car with a touch screen is not the place where I want to have to re-learn some aspect of a UI after I get a system update.

zaroth 4y ago
The UI updates essentially once a year to keep up the with massive influx of features that are being added, and keep those features accessible and organized on the available screen real estate. Basically with Tesla you get the latest model year car software on an ongoing basis, and it’s revolutionary from an owner’s perspective. The alternative is needing to trade in/buy a whole new model year car to get to enjoy whatever new feature, which is how it always used to work, and is so scammy. If you don’t want the latest software, you can always choose not the install it, but you would be seriously limiting the performance, comfort, safety and entertainment value of your car. Most cars don’t get faster, safer, and cheaper to operate after you buy them, but Tesla’s do. The obvious trade-off to getting the latest model year’s software and features is getting the latest model year’s UI as well.