Until recently I had problems with Apple CarPlay. I've discovered a few things that now have made the experience excellent. 1. I was using an off brand cable to connect my iphone 7Plus to the USB port in the console and kept losing the connection. I finally bought a genuine Apple cable and that problem is gone. 2. The built in wi-fi connection in the car has not allowed me to connect with Amazon Prime Music (which is excellent quality). Now I just disconnect the wi-fi on my phone and use the LTE connection, and Amazon Prime music works perfectly. My phone has plenty of memory so I download hundreds of songs from Amazon Prime onto the phone and listen to them while I drive through CarPlay. I can also go directly online and listen to other music through Amazon Prime as well.
Once I receive my new Valentine Gen2 Radar Detector, I will be listening to Amazon Prime Music, running Waze on the car main screen, and running V1 Driver App in the phone background to supplement the controls of the Valentine.

Most likely will be terminating my subscription to XM Satellite Radio as the quality of the music from Amazon Prime is far superior.

 

interesting note on the cable, I've let the XM subscription lapse in all our car as I was underwhelmed by the audio quality for the price (and I have bad hearing) the convenience is great, sadly just lacking quality
I really need to take more advantage of my Amazon Prime

 

XM Satellite radio is just getting way too expensive for the quality you receive. I was ready to cancel last June but they dropped my charge (for both cars) from over $500/year to just $120 total for one year. So I kept it but coming up for renewal in a few weeks so I will cancel this time as I doubt they will let me keep the $120/year rate again. We use Amazon all the time so the annual fee is more than offset by the free shipping, so the Prime music feature is a wonderful side benefit. One thing I did notice is the volume on XM is louder so when if I'm using Prime through CarPlay and then switch back to XM for whatever reason, the volume is too loud. That said, the music quality in the Panamera is noticeably better with Prime.

 

I was never impressed by XM quality. It sounds like an overly-compressed MP3 streaming station from the early days of the internet.

 

I agree. Plus with Amazon Prime I don't have to listen to any of the inane discussions/commentary; just quality music for "free".

 

Cancel XM and they will come back with $5 per month for a 6 months or a year. Just call and cancel and they'll give you the offer, repeat after it expires. If they don't give you the deal on the phone, just cancel and they'll spam you with $5 per month for a year offers.

 

Yeah that's what happened last year. Actually I looked at the renewal and it would be $263/year if I do nothing but I am going to cancel anyway. Don't really see the need at all.

 

Not surprised about off brand usb to apple phone cable. Ive found that those off brands cables usually from china go bad in a few weeks. You can return a real apple cable for a new one at any apple store.

 

I pay $60 for 12 months. see offer below. I hardly use it, but at this price it is useful for the rare occasions I want to listen to live news or the comedy channel. For music I use Spotify and for non live news I tend to use Podcasts both via Apple CarPlay.

 

@SaratogaLefty

interesting when you bought the car from the dealer they didn’t give you a genuine Apple cable , mine was CPO and still they did this on their own.

 

They gave me a Porsche branded cable.

https://www.sunsetporscheparts.com/o...le-97004490150

 

I did not get any cable at all. However, my custom order was built in June, 2017 and arrived in San Diego in late September. It sat at the port until April, 2018, awaiting EPA and CARB certifications. My original order had a 5% discount and the standard one year free maintenance. By the time it was delivered I had threatened to cancel the order three times. Anyway, my original MSRP with tax, license, and fees was just under $140k. I wound up getting three years of free service and $2500 from PCNA, my radar detector hard wired by the Dealer's local installer, a full oil change service at delivery, a free session at the LA Porsche Driving Experience, the Federal rebate of $6700, and a PG&E (my utility) rebate of $500. So when all was said and done I figure I wound up with almost a 20% discount so I wasn't overly concerned about getting an Apple cable although maybe I should have asked (LOL).

 

I haven't tried Spotify. Have you tried Amazon Prime Music? That deal you reference is what they gave me last June to keep me.

 

Yes. I tried Amazon Prime Music. I like it and if it was up to me I would probably have stuck with that because it is cheaper as a Prime Member.

However my wife prefers Spotify and insists on that one. Spotify has much better curated playlists, and they are going into proprietary content too (for instance they just signed an exclusive deal with Joe Rogan for his podcast and video content taking it from Apple and Youtube's free platforms respectively). Given the small price difference I think Spotify is probably worth the premium, and Spotify's integration with the Amazon Alexa platform is almost identical to that with Amazon music.

 

LOL, I bought my car from a Porsche dealership and they didn't give me any cable.

But on a related note:
@SaratogaLefty - wondering which Porsche dealer you take your car for service and if you have been satisfied with their work. I'm on the e-hybrid forum and saw that you live in Saratoga. I live in Los Altos and work in Los Gatos so hoping to get your advice. New to Porsche and the forum as of late 2019.

Thanks in advance!