The Porsche Taycan electric car receives Apple Music, 3 years of free data

The new Taycan electric battery sedan from Porsche is probably the most anticipated car of the year. The official launch of the car – and our in-depth knowledge of its technology – will take place in early September. Later in the month, we will be able to tell you how it works, before the first customer deliveries in December. But we have some news that we can share on the car now. On Monday night, Porsche revealed that it had worked with Apple to integrate the Apple Music streaming service with Taycan's infotainment system. All Taycan customers will benefit from a free six-month trial period. Porsche indicates that the Taycan will also benefit from a free data service for a period of three years.

The addition of Apple Music adds to CarPlay (which is separate), which is still a standard feature of Taycan's infotainment system. But, as CarPlay users know, it's a very interactive way to interact with your phone's content. This is not the case with the new Apple Music feature. It has been added as a separate entry into Taycan's media player application, next to the broadcast radio, Bluetooth devices, and so on.

Playlists can be displayed on the main dashboard in front of the driver and controlled using the multifunction steering wheel as well as the Infotainment screen located in the center stack. The tight integration into the infotainment system means that if you hear a song you like on the radio – and that it has been properly labeled – you can easily add it to your library Apple Music or even create a new Apple Music playlist based on this track. In addition to the items you expect in Apple Music, Porsche also offers playlists specifically designed for Taycan owners.

This is the first time that Apple is collaborating with an automotive supplier in this way, but this fits into a broader trend of cloud-based technological innovations that are developing in the world. 39; automobile. Although the announcement only concerns Apple and Porsche specifically, it seems likely that over time, it will expand to other brands of the Volkswagen Group, presumably with other manufacturers.

As for other streaming services, Porsche would only say that its goal is to make Apple Music as easy to use as possible and to make sure that the sound is as good in the car as it is. a CD if a CD player was available in the Taycan. . I do not know of any cars with Google Play integration, but Spotify is available for many OEM infotainment systems, including Tesla and Volvo.

The fact that Porsche will provide three years of free data service to a new Taycan through its Porsche Connect service may be a more important element of the news. Car manufacturers have a lot to gain from connected cars in terms of the actual users. So it seems normal that they start to subsidize or cover the costs of this data.