BMW To Ship Vehicles Without Android Auto & Apple CarPlay Due To Global Chip Shortage

Last Updated on May 10, 2022 by Anu Joy

The pandemic has been one of the primary causes of the industry-wide chip shortage, which has significantly impacted the consumer electronics business, which has also hit the automobile world. We’ve seen brands struggle to obtain legacy chips, which are commonly found in automobiles. Because of the scarcity of chips, many automakers have been forced to temporarily shut down their plants for several weeks at a time. All major automakers have been victims of this, with BMW being the most recent.

In certain regions, the German manufacturer will ship vehicles to consumers without Android Auto or CarPlay functionality in the infotainment system. Moreover, it will also lack built-in Wi-Fi. Due to the semiconductor shortage, BMW was compelled to switch chip suppliers. The issue now is that those additional components are not compatible with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

Since the beginning of 2022, the corporation has been compelled to remove this functionality from their automobiles. These vehicles are said to have been delivered to consumers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and France. The automaker did not specify which automobiles are lacking the features, although the problem appears to be confined.

BMW has announced that a software upgrade will be released by the “end of June at the latest” to restore Android Auto, CarPlay, and Wi-Fi capabilities on impacted vehicles. While BMW has restricted functioning on their vehicles, Mercedes-Benz has completely eliminated several chips from its automobiles. When the chips become available, the manufacturer will notify concerned consumers so that they can have them installed in their vehicles at a nearby service station.