Right here’s How a 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser Can Run Apple CarPlay on Its Manufacturing facility Touchscreen

There’s one thing weirdly charming about squeezing new software program into outdated {hardware}. And whilst you can technically put Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into any automobile with an aftermarket head unit, getting it to look native on an outdated manufacturing facility display screen is far classier. Within the case of the 100 Collection Toyota Land Cruiser, it’s additionally a useful boon. Now you’ll be able to put smartphone apps in your outdated ‘Yota with out deleting the manufacturing facility touchscreen local weather controls. Getting smartphone apps to run on a Bush II-era Land Cruiser is, maybe surprisingly, so simple as getting a dongle and plugging it into the again of the SUV’s head unit. I’m unsure drag and gesture inputs would behave notably nicely on an old-style resistive touchscreen like this, nevertheless it works. The toughest a part of the set up can be pulling the dashboard aside for entry. Right here’s a demo video of 1 such system in motion: I imply, it seems fairly low-res. However that matches the remainder of the inside’s look higher anyway, proper? These older Land Cruisers particularly profit from this type of stock-screen retrofitting greater than different automobiles due to how the vent and fan controls have been run by way of the touchscreen. That makes a head unit swap slightly extra of a headache than it is likely to be on one other automobile. However having the ability to protect the car’s authentic dashboard design whereas having CarPlay can also be actually cool to me. This got here up on my radar earlier this week when it appeared on a Fb Land Cruiser group and the off-road discussion board IH8MUD. At first, I assumed the unique poster there had invented a technique of sneaking CarPlay onto the outdated system. However nope, it’s only a available adapter that not all people is aware of about but. I already miss the depth and magnificence of this period a lot. However even if you happen to don’t care about period-correctness, swapping in a brand new head unit is annoying on these vehicles as a result of as you’ll be able to see, the local weather controls aren’t actually workable with out the inventory display screen. Toyota Nonetheless, props to Augie Badura for doing the analysis to seek out this factor and getting one put in to confirm that it really works. Should you’re every day driving a 100 Collection Land Cruiser and wish to replace it with trendy cellphone connectivity, this seems to be a reasonably good possibility for you. And if you happen to’re questioning how CarPlay and Android Auto is likely to be ported to a later-model 200 Collection Land Cruiser, it seems like they are often equally up to date as nicely. There could also be a number of corporations providing these options, however if you happen to’re buying, try NAViKS for 100 Collection vehicles and BeatSonic for a 200 Collection equipment. Looks like a great start line a minimum of. Taking aside the dashboard of a 200 Collection seems extra annoying, however a minimum of this sort of work is cleaner than something below the hood tends to be. And for these of you who, like me, clicked on this submit since you merely admire the thought of utilizing Google Maps whereas preserving the manufacturing facility look of an outdated truck’s dashboard, now you’ll be able to share this in discussion board threads that pop up asking about dashboard cellphone mounts and methods to hack new head items into basic Crusiers. My fellow millennials and I’ve a tricky time with this, however vehicles from the early 2000s at the moment are classics. Yeah, we’re formally outdated. However right now’s outdated vehicles are simpler to reside with than the classics we grew up round. Put one other manner: Driving a 2004 automobile within the yr 2024 is loads much less depressing than driving a 1984 automobile would have been 20 years in the past. We will thank the large leaps in consolation and reliability across the flip of the millennium for that. All this to say: I perceive why anyone would need CarPlay in a 100 Collection Land Cruiser. However there’s additionally loads of inherent coolness in retaining that cockpit interval appropriate, and at this level, retaining the manufacturing facility look is simply going to assist these automobiles age higher. Obtained ideas? Ship ’em to ideas@thedrive.com