When Porsche eventually offers Apple CarPlay (2017?) is there likely to be a factory software upgrade available for GT4s equipped with the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) option? If not from Porsche, would it be possible to see this offered by a 2nd party using the PCM hardware?

Thanks for any insights!

 

Doubt it. Totally new hardware as seen on the new 991.2 and rolling out in the Macan and 718 etc.

Simplest way would be to swap out the entire unit for aftermarket.

 

No way will it be just software. I'm wondering if Suncoast will be able to offer a retrofit kit of the new OEM unit to older cars, but I don't know how feasible that is, and I suspect I won't value having CarPlay nearly as highly as what it would cost, especially since you still have to plug the phone in and the USB port is stupidly in the glovebox rather than the center console where it was on the 987. Apple supports wireless CarPlay now, but I haven't seen any head unit, OEM or aftermarket, that has implemented that yet.

 

FWIW: When I attended the Porsche Sport Driving School in Finland this past January, the cars provided were all 991.2 C2S's. They have the new PCM unit. I didn't play with the unit very much (kinda focused on driving!), but the most obvious change is that the display is now glass, rather than plastic. So, it's exactly like the display on a smartphone. The glass covers the entire unit now, unlike the ones in our car where there is a plastic bezel that "frames" the display. The User Interface is completely different as well. As much as I liked the physical changes, I did not like the UI changes. However, I would like to spend more time playing with it before making a final judgment.

I do find it strange that Porsche doesn't make a rolling change for things like the PCM unit. Especially when it is the exact same size/shape as the older unit. It's extremely frustrating that my GT4, which hasn't even been built yet, will have the old unit, meanwhile, Porsche's already been building cars with the new unit for at least 5 or 6 months now.

 

Just prepare to go aftermarket. You'll keep up with the technology better for way less money. Because there is an OEM looking bezel from Suncoast it's a non issue.

A car like the GT4 is meant to be driven with technology secondary. I bought a cell phone mount and to me that's more than enough to keep my phone tech at hand. I use the phone NAV and have the PCM NAV as the back up WHEN I even need NAV.

Even with USB/BT available, my connection is with a digital out dock connector (high end DAC - iStreamer) through the AUX IN. It's just a higher quality sound. Not that I can hear it over the engine most of the time. But it is better.

 

I totally agree as my car isn't built either and it will seem instantly outdated as it won't have the latest unit.

 

^ That's the main reason I didn't spec PCM ... Didn't really want to pay $3K for something that's outdated right off the bat.

 

I wouldn't want it on my GT4 anyways.

 

+1.

 

This question arose at Tech Tactics East and the PCNA presenter was very certain that the new PCM would not be retrofittable into our GT4s. There is a lot more to it than just a head unit--a dedicated 4G mobile data connection to Porsche Germany, smartphone apps and the like. See the attached slides used to train SAs in the new PCM.

Apple Car Play in the GT4? I think you need to live without or go aftermarket.

 

I did PCM with nav for the map in the info screen at the steering wheel. It's really nice to glance down at what kind of corner is coming up when driving spirited. I'd hate to lose that.

 

Appologies for the partial thread jack, but seems folks here have good expertise.

I have CDR+ on my GT4, and am tempted to retrofit PCM 3.1. There are a couple of race shops near me that have taken these out from race stripped Caymans so are pretty new. Cost is circa $1000 and am told is fully retrofittable.

Can anyone confirm/clarify:
1. Indeed a retrofit is possible, assuming of course re-programming is done via the dealership?
2. Other than Nav, what would I gain, and also - would I lose anything yanking out the CDR+ unit?
3. Lastly, some are from a 2014/2015MY, were there any changes (e.g. faster processor, better graphics. etc.) I should be aware of?

Many thanks in advance.

 

Nice to see they finally brought a USB port back into the glovebox if CarPlay users have to connect their phones to use it. I don't think it will be available as a retrofit either even though the only thing that looks totally external is the PVTS feature. Everything else could be handled inside the head unit itself, and since people who want to keep using the 4G connectivity need to pay a subscription fee for it, Porsche could even support that on retrofitted cars, though I doubt they will. Oh well, if I'm honest I seldom use the damn thing anyway and would probably even less frequently use CarPlay if I had to connect my phone each time, especially since every time I do that I invariably forget to grab it when I get out of the car. I just wanted PCM mostly for the live map display that I've become accustomed to, the occasional route guidance, and the higher-res and more feature-complete head unit without a roof wart.

 

Given the cost of PCM and no CarPlay support, I decided to just buy an iPad mini for ~$650 with a $10/month data plan.

Wish it was more integrated, but it's arguably better than CarPlay at a much lower cost, even with the data plan costs. Plus with AT&T's Number Portability (enabling all your iOS devices to be linked to your phone account), I basically get a dedicated car phone to boot.

 

The only difference between CDR+ and PCM is the software (and on the GT4, the fact that CDR+ includes SiriusXM and HD Radio, but those can be activated on PCM as well), so theoretically you could get a retrofit simply by installing the PCM software to the hardware you already have. But I don't know if that's available. If you decide that a hardware retrofit is easier, I can't imagine you having any issues with the other unit except maybe needing to activate SiriusXM and HD Radio on the retrofitted unit, but I haven't looked into this in detail. Hopefully these things don't have VIN locks. But if it's coded right, there's absolutely nothing you'd lose by going to PCM from CDR+. PCM is a superset of CDR+ functionality -- and as long as your PCM unit is a 3.1 version, then it would be identical to what you would've gotten had you ordered it on a GT4 from the factory.