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Wireless CarPlay is clearly superior to having to plug in your phone every time you get in the car, but most automakers have been slow to embrace it. This is where alternatives like the Intellidash Pro come in.
Intellidash Pro, the wireless version of the Intellidash + base unit we previously reviewed, offers an easy-to-install CarPlay experience with no electrical work required.
Parts and ports
In the box you get the Intellidash Pro, a suction cup articulating arm mount, an adhesive glass disc, a USB-C to USB-C cable, a hook-and-loop cable tie, power adapters, and five adhesive cable clips.
Car and Driver’s new Intellidash Pro features a substantial seven-inch display with a slightly matte finish, which helps reduce glare while driving. It has built-in microphones and speakers, though you probably won’t want to use those.
Glass disc to create a smooth mounting surface
The stand is extremely adjustable and allows you to mount your screen in several different positions. It can connect to your windshield inside or you can attach the glass disc to your dashboard and mount the screen there.
We prefer the windshield option, which makes it easier to hide the cables.
Mounting the Intellidash Pro on the windshield
On the left side of the unit are all the port offerings. There is a 3.5mm auxiliary audio input, an auxiliary audio output, a USB-C port, and a USB-A port for use exclusively with USB drives.
There is a fairly large power unit that takes up the car’s power outlet, so you can’t use it for another charge, which is a downside.
Wireless CarPlay for the win
We have been loyal CarPlay users for years. It is simply the best way to use your iPhone in your car. Apple has regularly added new features to CarPlay, which are rolled out for everyone when the software runs on your iPhone, rather than your car.
As long as your car supports CarPlay, you’ll get new interface changes, app updates, map improvements, and more. This year we saw several new features.
CarPlay started out as a wired affair, but soon Apple released a wireless specification. It’s been years and many new vehicles still only support the wired incarnation, much to the chagrin of users.
Run Wireless CarPlay
Most of the alternatives are full head unit replacements that require a substantial amount of know-how or a professional installer to upgrade. It’s a complicated and often expensive proposition that turns away many users.
After living with wireless CarPlay for years, however, it would be hard to turn back the clock.
To set up CarPlay wirelessly with the Intellidash Pro, all you need to do is connect your iPhone via a USB-C to Lightning cable. It will then automatically discover and ask to pair with the new screen. Then you can disconnect the Lightning cable and use it wirelessly from there. Effortlessly.
When working wirelessly, it works over Wi-Fi and will also show your battery status on the CarPlay interface. Otherwise it’s the same experience as running it wired.
You notice a slight delay in the audio as it is transmitted from your phone, but that’s not a problem.
Nowadays there is also a great option to pair with your wireless CarPlay: a MagSafe compatible wireless charging cradle. We recently tested several models that can either hold your iPhone conveniently or hold and charge it at the same time.
This is our favorite scenario where we can get in the car, mount our iPhone via MagSafe where it can also charge, and CarPlay is running wirelessly in the background. With the Intellidash Pro, this is the experience we get.
Is it really wireless?
It might seem almost like a contradiction, because Intellidash Pro gives you wireless CarPlay, but at the same time it can add an extra cable or two to your vehicle. It makes us think about whether or not this is a step in the right direction.
This is your setup. If you put this on your dashboard, leaving all the wires hanging loose, it’s going to frustrate you and foster a bad experience.
If you take the included tools to properly route your cables, this is a wonderful solution for many people.
Connect to your car via auxiliary or FM transmitter
We carefully ran our power cable under the plastic edge of our dashboard and, where we couldn’t, neatly tucked the cable into the small clips provided. With the cords out of the way, they stay out of mind.
Intellidash Pro can also stream to your vehicle’s radio with a built-in FM transmitter. This allows you to ditch the auxiliary cable, leaving you with only one wire – the power cable – to run your Intellidash Pro.
For the added convenience of Wireless CarPlay, we are sold.
Aside from CarPlay, there are a few other features worth noting, however briefly.
Intellidash Pro has Bluetooth so that even if you don’t use CarPlay – or if you don’t have a secondary device – it can still route its audio and calls through the unit.
A USB stick can be inserted on the side where the music can be played. And of course, it also supports Android Auto if that’s your bag.
Should I buy the Intellidash Pro?
After using the Intellidash Pro for a while, our only real complaint is the way it interfaces with your car. This makes your native display almost useless, with ours being relegated to a very large touchscreen for air conditioning and not much else.
We also started using the FM transmitter, which looked like a blast from the past. Everyone had them to wirelessly connect their iPod to their car, but then and now they were having problems.
As you travel a long distance, your radio broadcast channels change as new stations appear while others disappear out of range. So we would pick an empty station just to put it on a radio show after driving for a while.
If you only drive locally, an FM transmitter is probably the way to go.
To make things easier, we just switched to the auxiliary cable, but that meant we had to have one more wire around our car, which looks messy. Even when we try to hide it as best we can.
The best solution would be to have a wireless CarPlay adapter for our vehicle, but this is the second best option.
Wireless CarPlay is wonderful
Wireless CarPlay is a much better user experience, and the Intellidash Pro delivers that. Just sit in your car, turn it on, and the Intellidash Pro comes to life, automatically connecting to your iPhone without leaving your pocket.
This is how CarPlay is meant to be, and a shame on automakers for dragging their feet to bring that to vehicles natively.
This year appears to be the first year we’ve seen widespread wireless CarPlay adoption, but there are far too many existing vehicles on the roads that need a solution as well. As long as you don’t mind your car’s second screen, it gives you that wireless experience without having to replace your entire car’s main unit.
- Brings wireless CarPlay to almost any vehicle
- Large 7 inch adjustable screen
- Several mounting options
- Cable ties and clips included
- Easy installation
- Auxiliary cable, FM transmitter or built-in speaker options for audio output
- USB-C port to connect the phone
Rating: 4 out of 5
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