Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMaxXHD
I brought this up before in the other i4 forum, but while it is frustrating, this is not exactly unheard of. In fact, it’s quite common in the tech space. It’s just that now that cars are becoming more like computers, it is also inherenting some of the issues of the tech industry.
Server CPU architectures often lag a generation behind the latest and greatest consumer counterparts. Products being launched that are better than what was just launched only a few short months prior. Incoherent product stack and development cycles that criss cross and piss everyone off for no reason other than for profit (apple) or because of incompetence of the company (many others like Intel)
The very expensive iPad Pro from 2020 was not going to get the more professionally driven stage manager initially because it didn’t have the M1 chip, meanwhile the cheaper iPad Air launched only two years later with the M1, was going to get it. After the backlash was so severe by apple standards, they “made it work” with the 2020 iPad Pro A12Z, but not with the iPad Pro 2018 A12X, which it should be able to run as well.
This is not new, it is just new for the car world.
As someone from the tech world, welcome to what we deal with.
The saying goes for us, the moment you build your computer, it becomes outdated by something else, so just build and enjoy, and don’t try to time new product launches. Now, it’s applicable to cars.
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BMW could make this all go away by marketing similar to what we do in tech.
Advertising hardware features.
Advertising software features.
Separating the two will help them to help slow what is causing customers to lose confidence in them in this area.
For instance, what “iDrive 7” features does the LCI G30 lack compared to the G05 X5? BMW has this list in their “Service Pack” details they don’t share, but it would help consumers compare them in an easier manner and to help them align their expectations better.
It also frees up BMW to market iDrive as an infotainment UI that could change independently of the car’s platform. Even potentially via a software update.
My problem is you have to download their “
Service Availability Matrix” to get some vague idea of the features any car supports and it is often very out of date.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMaxXHD
You are mistaken if you think that is how that works. In the regular tech world with android devices, that is not how that works.
Anyone that has used an android device can tell you that it’s a catch 22 whether you even get updates beyond an major update or two. It is on the manufacturers of the phones to update their products to the latest versions. Some manufacturers support their devices for only like 1 or 2 years worth of android updates.
Apple is ironically the best with device support, often giving 5+ years in some cases of updates. The flipside is they are also the worst at walling latest features to new devices, even if older ones are capable of having the feature.
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The challenge of monolithic kernels. A reality for Linux and Android alike since they share a kernel. This leads to drivers needing to be aligned with the Kernel so upgrades to newer versions usually require new drivers patched into the Kernel.
I believe Apple has a hybrid kernel like Windows NT does which allows them to not have to build drivers into the Kernel and makes it easier to support multiple versions, but I could be off.
I agree though. BMW will likely not support Android Auto versions of iDrive anymore than they do current ones. As soon as a new one drops they will forget about the last one.