MINI’s recent addition of CarPlay has been of interest to current and prospective owners alike. While we think there’s still a bit of polish left to put on the Apple software, it’s a great way to safely bring iOS into the MINI’s infotainment system. This video gives us a walk-through of the system and how it works with the MINI’s input system.

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As of March 2018 MINI offers CarPlay within it’s “Touch Screen Navigation” package that’s typically $1,700. For that you get a larger (and excellent) touchscreen, MINI Connected services (which are actually pretty good these days), a wireless charging tray in the armrest and the aforementioned CarPlay.

For us it’s a nobrainer but not because of CarPlay. The underlining technology is really why it makes so much sense. The larger screen, better navigation system and better user interface are critical parts of the way we interact with cars in 2018. And there’s more that MINI rarely even mentioned (like the alertness functionality analysizes if the driver is losing concentration)

For us that alone is worth the money. Then couple that with the promise of CarPlay you have a pretty important option in our minds.