Wired vs. wireless CarPlay: How are they different & which is better to use?

If you drive with an iPhone next to you every day, one of the biggest quality-of-life improvements you can make to your car is using Apple CarPlay. It's a feature that's been baked into iPhones since 2014 and lets you access navigation, messages, music and other apps through your car's infotainment system. You get simplified controls on a larger display and don't run the risk of being distracted trying to operate your phone while driving. Support for CarPlay goes all the way back to the iPhone 5, with most major car manufacturers, like Ford, Hyundai, BMW and Honda, having integrated it into their models.

You don't need much to get CarPlay going: just your iPhone, a USB cable and an internet connection, assuming you're planning to use navigation or stream music. Newer car models that ship with wireless CarPlay eliminate the need for you to plug in your iPhone altogether. You simply get in your car, start the engine and your iPhone will connect automatically.

You can always revert to a wired setup, but why would you want to deal with a physical connection when your vehicle lets you access CarPlay wirelessly? For starters, there is no difference in the feature set or functionality between wired and wireless CarPlay. You get to use the same apps, make or receive calls and even access the new Siri AI irrespective of your connection type. Simply put, if your vehicle supports wireless CarPlay, there's little reason not to use it. Yet, wired CarPlay can prove to be the superior option in certain situations.