Interesting news. So does that mean the 2015/2016 OBs will be able to get carplay?

 

I want to get excited, but as with all good things I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Wise Words...

 

Would be nice indeed

 

.....OMG, millennial's hearts all aflutter over the possibility of having a buggy Apple app for their cars.... :1pat:

 

If this ends up being true, it will probably be the tipping point to convince me to purchase an Outback to replace my VW diesel.

 

If the update also includes Android Auto that would be great news, but I will only believe it if it's confirmed by another source!

 

No Android Auto for the current HU. At some point Outback will get the new 8" Harman HU with AA, but when that will be and whether it will include complete redesign of dashboard and harnesses I have no idea. My hopes are that I will be able to buy that HU and fit it into the 2016 outback. My hopes aren't too high though because the new Impreza seems to have the head unit very large and tall rather than wide.

 

This could quite possibly happen during what I anticipate to be a slight refresh for 2018 (as was done in 2013 for the 4th gen and 2007 on the 3rd gen). While those previous generations didn't include major entertainment system updates, it's a possibility this time around.

 

I would like this as well. I bet a firmware update may have some other improvements or fixes. I also hope they release a map update as well.

 

Give us the ability to enter an address into the navigation system while underway. Put a safety disclaimer in there if you must, but give us the option.

 

Also looking forward to this if true. But as others said I will believe it when I see it. It's convoluted enough to just update the maps.

 

Meh. No Android Auto? Especially considering the majority of smartphone users have Android OS.

 

Another unintuitive, uninclusive, proprietary pile to add to the 800lb gorilla apple ecosystem. They're commies I tell ya.:grin2:

 

Its making my urgency for the decision to replace my VW Passat TDI to an Outback much greater! Thanks!

PS great forum! Really appreciate everyone here!

 

Counting every minute until I can get out of my Jetta Sportwagen and into a new Outback. I think I'm going to end up parking the VW, fly out to Chicago, and drive back with an Outback soon.


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hmm... I just got that phone call the other day -to bring the car in and they wanna make sure I know how all the stuff works....I figured it's another 'sales pitch' to try and get you to buy something else...?? and I don't really have an extra hour laying around for that - I can look here and find 98% of the answers I'm looking for

hmm.. guessing the 'firmware update, if there is one, will have to be taken into dealer to have done...?? read others here that recently did some sort of firmware update and have more issues than before..

btw - Happy Thanksgiving everyone

 

My dealer tried to pull that tactic on me... 'come in for some free car tips and get a $50 gas card'. It wasn't worth it to me to visit the dealer voluntarily, even for $50.

 

Then the salesman did a poor job of explaining things to you. What it's supposed to be is the Love Encore presentation. You just spent x number of hours at my dealership with me as the salesman explaining stuff to you and throwing all sorts of stuff at you. After you've had the car a couple of weeks, most NORMAL people have questions about how to do things. So what this is about is you come back in with your list of questions - how do I do such and such - and the Encore delivery specialist answers them for you. In exchange for your time, you get a $50 gas card.

We have nearly 100% return visits here, because there's a LOT of tech to go over with these cars.

Oh, and I'll ask at the ride and drive next week, but we've heard nothing about the Outback getting Apple Car Play so far at the dealership level.

 

I'm not a Millennial, but I use my iPhone for work, and we text one another for work stuff. This is more work-related for me than social. However, as someone who has a hard time keeping her hands off of her phone while driving, and I know I'm not alone, this is also a safety feature, IMO.

Also, no one tried to sell me anything at the dealership when I went in. I declined lots of extra stuff when I bought the car and none of it came up during my tech review. It was a different person than the "upsell" paperwork guy. It took about 30 minutes and was on my way home from work. I had to make an appointment. It was well worth the $50 gas card!

 

Interesting. The salesperson went through all the tech stuff the day I bought the car along with everything else. A bit of overload and a goodly amount of time. I missed a music concert I wanted to go to. Going over the tech stuff is part of the salesperson checklist as I remember when I answered the customer questionnaire survey. And no free gas card.

 

When it comes to firmware updates for anything, especially cars, you should not believe it until it happens. It has been my experience that most of reported updates never happen because the incentive is to sell new items, not to make already sold items more attractive.

 

Spoke to my dealer when I signed the papers on a 2017 Outback with the HK sound system. He said there weren't any plans to update current or past models to Carplay or Android Auto; basically, the HU that came with the car is the one you're stuck with, unless you bought a third party unit (and sacrifice the speaker integration). Disappointed, because I much prefer Google Maps navigation, but I suppose I can wait and see whether there will be an official HK-compatible unit that can be retrofitted down the road.

 

Could you explain what you mean by "sacrifice the speaker integration"?

Thanks in advance,
Dave

 

Could you explain what you mean by "sacrifice the speaker integration"?

Think he's thinking about how engineers have quit trying to build the perfect speaker and now put active equalization in the amplifier and other electronics so the net effect is the desired sound.

 

Thanks. Most head units of any utility have equalizing abilities and I am pretty sure I read on here that there are some HU that will work with some tweaks. No matter. I have no intentions to replace mine yet.

 

Yes but that is far from the same thing as what constitutes proper tuning of speakers to the room. This is exactly what Bose has made their fame and fortune. First example I'm familiar with was the Bose 901 which used about 10 identical small speakers (in each), no woofers, no tweeters, just a special equalizer driving the preamp, for audiophile results. It's more than boosting/attenuating certain frequency ranges. A graphic equalizer could not reproduce the same results.

 

No offense but I am pretty sure you will not find anyone who thinks the HK system is audiophile quality or plays audiophile quality sound. I am also pretty sure you can buy a new HU that will sound better without breaking the bank.

 

Who needs audiophile when you all are playing MP3 through your phones. There is no audiophile in MP3.

 

I'm no audio file but I'm quite happy with the stock HK premium stereo


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I'm no audio file but I'm quite happy with the stock HK premium stereo.

I think you mean audiophile... lol. But audio file works too

 

I love the HKHU....,.......I hate the HKHU gee whiz Why can't you people just be satisfied with the vehicle. It is a Surround Sound System with DSPs and well acceptable at this price point. You Nay Sayers should bought a stereo with 4 wheels and engine. :spin:

Laughter is the key to happiness

 

"I'm familiar with was the Bose 901 which used about 10 identical small speakers (in each), no woofers, no tweeters, just a special equalizer driving the preamp, for audiophile results."

I've never heard the words Bose and audiophile in the same sentence!

The Bose 901's used 9 CTS drivers that cost 1.50 each and housed them in a molded plastic enclosure with veneered particle board panels attached. An awful pair of speakers. I was in the biz for 20 years and we had a saying, "No highs, no lows, must be Bose!". The 901's did, indeed, only use signal equalization and nothing else, to squeeze a little more frequency response out of those 4" speakers; that's why they sounded like crap. You simply cannot make a 4" driver reproduce deep bass, or 15KHZ "tweets", no matter how much you equalize the output signal, its called physics. Dr Amar Bose was the PT Barnum of the audio business....thats why they required they have their own wall, so you couldn't compare them to other speakers.

Thats not to say that you can't equalize the output signal of an amp to extend the frequency response of a speaker system, you can do that for sure, as you say.

I would be shocked if there was any "speaker integration" going on in the stock HK system. Perhaps, its conceivable, that there is some impedance correction in the wiring but thats probably about it, if anything. A substitute head unit would probably improve the sound as some contributors to this forum have discussed, but if you go to all of that trouble then swapping out speakers would also be sensible. Personally, I think this system is fine as it is but it is not "audiophile". (sorry for the rant)

 

Personally, I think this system is fine as it is but it is not "audiophile".

I agree. But neither is the listening environment "audiophile," either. If music is important to you, a motor vehicle ... any motor vehicle ... is a terrible listening environment.

 

This whole claim is based on a rumour (and not a very strong one).

No vehicle publication has run with this yet and considering it is a huge positive PR move for Subaru, you'd think they would "leak" it like crazy to any major publication who will print it (just like Kia and Ford did).

Then on top of that we have a number of people working at dealers on here, and none of them know anything about it. Which is odd within itself as this is the kind of info you disseminate quickly to help sales of more expensive vehicles (2017 Outback Vs. Impreza).

And lastly technologically it has problems... The head unit in the current gen' Outback is completely different from the one in the Impreza, and from a different manufacturer. The manufacturer who makes the Outback's head unit (Fujitsu-Ten) doesn't make Carplay or AA headunits AT ALL. And they cannot backport the software from the Impreza unit as it is proprietary and sold with the hardware. They both are skinned and branded similarly but that's where the similarities end.

Ultimately we have one single "random" employee from a "random" dealership claiming something extraordinary and no corroboration from any other trusted source (including other dealerships).

I give this a less than 10% chance of being true. I obviously hope it is. But we need corroboration to take it seriously (even other random dealership staff would do). And we've had several dealership employees make this claim before I might remind people (although most of the time to make a sale, but perhaps in this case to get a good survey score).

 

I haven't been asked to take a survey yet and I don't know how telling me that this upgrade was coming out would result in a good survey. Whether it is rumor or true, this guy felt pretty confident in that the Apple CarPlay would be available, to the point where he said he wasn't going to go into much detail about how to get my iPhone to work with Starlink because it wasn't worth it, and just to hold tight for a few months and that I'll be very happy when it comes out. If Apple CarPlay does not come out, this would result in a pretty bad survey, especially since his only job at the dealership is to help customers with their vehicle's technology. He is not on the sales floor.

 

Back on point, are we getting Apple Car Play or not.

 

No, we won't be getting it. Subaru can barely get the head unit functioning properly without crashing. No way they will implement CarPlay.

 

Well, I guess that if I had an iProduct of some sort that would be a condition precedent to being disappointed by the unavailability of CarPlay.

I suffer from no such malady.