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Apple Carplay head unit

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by MagnusAG99, Oct 22, 2020.

  1. MagnusAG99

    MagnusAG99 Senior Member

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    We got a 2016 Prius that i wanna upgrade the head unit of, its amazingly slow and unresponsive and its having some absurd issues with Bluetooth and stuff like that which not even the Toyota dealership here knows how to fix. So im wondering, is it possible to upgrade the 2016 head unit to the 2020 head unit since its just a face lift? I see that new Toyotas gets apple car play, and that the system is updated. Is this at all possible to do?

    What im also planning to do with the cameras is to purchase a 360 degree camera kit, and if possible, two blind spot cameras on the side of the front bumper right underneath the parking sensors as well. So we dont have to drive out in the road to see if its cars coming. I know that http://www.Car-solutions.com sells these system box thingys that allows you to add an extra video input RFCC TTG2 Rear and Front View Car Camera Control System for Toyota Touch 2 / Entune - Car Solutions . We had this box in our 2016 Auris and i added a front camera to it before we traded it for the 2016 Prius (simply because the Prius is a WAY better car than the Auris.), even supports the OEM steering wheel buttons so one can just click up and down on the buttons to change camera inputs. So i know that is fully possible atleast, but does the 2020 Prius Head unit support the 2016 Prius?

    If not then ive been looking at getting a aftermarket system that also has apple car play and that i can add these cameras too, but i got no clue which unit we should buy... And i got no clue which aftermarket units it is that supports the OEM steering wheel buttons.
    Another thing im a little worried about is the self parking feature, on my gen 3 i cant change out the head unit while keeping the self parking feature, because the self parking computer relies on the head unit and the stock camera (I can also adjust where the car is supposed to park by moving the box around on the screen). This doesnt seem to be the case with the Gen 4, it seems to run completely independently of the head unit and reverse camera and only uses the parking sensors and displays the self parking animation on the top screen where all the gauges are. Can anyone confirm that is the case?
     
  2. stewie3128

    stewie3128 Junior Member

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    I'm also very interested in this, since I have a 2018 and would like to upgrade the head unit to one of the Apple CarPlay or Android-compatible OEMs.
     
  3. bobthejedi

    bobthejedi Active Member

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    In regards to the 2020 going into earlier model
    Elektroingenieur who seems much more familiar with this that I'd say most of us says that its probably not possible.

    I'm also in that thread asking about the same thing as I'm a fellow 2016 owner who gave up a long time ago on entune and while my 2016 does okay with just bluetooth and QI charger on my dash (this is from 2016, but still pretty much the same with newer phone and xvida charger), recent advancements in carplay (intercom/third party apps) have made me interested in picking this up again.

    Beatsonic also now sells an adapter, but I'd say its bit much...and I really want wireless carplay
    Beat-Sonic Apple Carplay and Android Auto for 2014-2019 Toyota models with Entune 2.0 and Entune 2.5

    This is probably most promising for relatively cheap option
    Android headunit | PriusChat
    Ownice k3 k5 k6 Android10.0 Car Player Radio GPS 360 Panorama Auto Stereo FOR Toyota Prius XW50 2015 2020 4G LTE DSP Optical|Car Multimedia Player| - AliExpress

    But it looks like it doesn't support auto parking
    * Do not support the original car parking assistance function (which can be displayed on the original car stereo)


    The K5 variant comes with 360 cameras, but I have no idea where/how you'd mount them
     
    Filipe PT and MagnusAG99 like this.
  4. MagnusAG99

    MagnusAG99 Senior Member

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    That sucks, guess Toyota just *had* to change it so its no easy upgrade up to the face lift head unit, that theyve just changed around the wires when its technically not different at all.

    That is so strange... What does the head unit in the Gen 4 got to do with the auto parking? It doesnt use lines or any info from the OEM head unit at all (atleast not on screen). I know that it uses the head unit on the gen 3 because i can drag the box thing wherever i want on the screen and make the car reverse into the box, but there is no way to adjust that box in the gen 4 atleast from ive found... So i just really dont understand why it cant be changed.. (im not doubting the info and saying its a lie it cant be changed, i mean like, i just dont understand WHAT the head units task in the autopark is.).

    And yea ive seen that the Prius Prime (called "prius plug in" in Europe) comes with 360 cameras now, but im planning to get an aftermarket 360 degree birdseye view kit.
     
  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    I don't happen to know, but it could be something as invisible as handling the warning beeps.
     
  6. MagnusAG99

    MagnusAG99 Senior Member

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    I mean, its Toyota so that wouldnt surprise me... Head unit is the only unit in the car thats connected to the stereo isnt it, so that could make sense...
     
  7. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Plenty of carmakers do it that way, cheap and lightweight to have a mixer in the stereo instead of separate amp/speakers just for the warning tones. I think everyone got tired of the mechanical dingers and simple buzzers, so now we all get to tolerate fully integrated head units.

    Look at it this way- a 2020 stock head unit was over $4,100 as a new service part last time I checked. Almost any other solution you attempt is going to cost less.
     
  8. MagnusAG99

    MagnusAG99 Senior Member

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    Probably... Do you know if the 2020 suffers from the same horribly slow and unresponsive head unit? I was quiet shocked when i saw how bad it was when we got the 16 Auris TS, to then find out the one in the gen 4 prius is just as bad (head unit is pretty much the only thing that weve found bad with the gen 4 tho, rest of the car is great)... Even the screen in my gen 3 is faster and more responsive.

    Apart from the slow screen the biggest issue really with our head unit is that sometimes it refuses to connect to our phones, it doesnt even seem to try to connect. Immediately it says "bluetooth connection failed". Wonder if anyone else have had that issue and fixed it, i know tech when it comes to phones and PC`s, but got no clue how these head units work and got no plans to even try to mess with it...

    I guess the prius got different head units in Europe than what they do in USA as well, so the same fix that worked on a US prius wont work on a EU prius.
     
  9. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Couldn't say.

    Lately when I pick cars, I care more about how easy it is to upgrade to an aftermarket system. I no longer have any expectation that the carmakers themselves will be able to provide a useful system. I didn't even try the one in our Prius when it was new; we were already certain we wanted to swap for something that did carplay.
     
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