Wireless Phone Charger and Wireless Carplay

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Originally Posted by Rayrevolver

The wireless functionality sounds great. I didn't know that was a thing until my friend told me his new Kenwood did it.

Quick question, would this type of adapter work? I already have a USB port up front and this would be less intrusive than the bigger dongles.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/linksys-next-gen-ac-dual-band-ac600-usb-network-adapter-black/5174100.p?skuId=5174100&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=1003&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1268652&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzbv7BRDIARIsAM-A6-24swblJkdNxWoCJSiS_Ky5Qno1o16hHDeddlFfHDb2hyeoKvXy P5AaAvDLEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I guess I could buy a splitter and hide the dongle behind the head unit as well.

2 phones in the past I had the Qi charging. It was great. My wifes Camry has a built-in charging pad but it barely works due to her leather case and newer iphone.

The CarPlay2 Air dongle isn't just a usb/bluetooth dongle. It has a little computer of sorts inside that makes the phone and the stereo think they're connected directly via USB. Just a bluetooth dongle or adapter won't work because the phone and the car have to think they're directly connected. The only concern for the future is that Apple could, at some point, decide to be dicks, and send out an iOS update that prevents this adapter from working, but that's a low risk I'm willing to take.

Now, if you have an Android based stereo in your car, you can get an adapter for much less than the $129 the CarPlay2 Air costs. There are a lot of these out there that do the same thing, but only work for Android head units.

This is probably the one to get if you have an Android head unit.

I could have upgraded my Pioneer head unit to another Pioneer head unit that has wireless CarPlay built in, but that would have cost a lot more than getting this setup, and been more work.

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Here's the finished product in action.

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I have made a couple of changes, and I think everyone will appreciate one of them, because it means a lot less work and cutting, and actually a better wireless charging setup.

I was having some issues with the charger after getting a new iPhone 15 Pro. I decided to try a different one. I ordered this charging pad from Amazon. It's inexpensive, and it works very well. It's very, very thin, and it fits inside the cubby beautifully. All you need to do is cut a small hole at one end of the cubby, aligned with where the USB-C cable from the charger will need to exit. I used my Dremel.

My head unit (which is a Jensen J3CA7W I just recently got, because it has wireless CarPlay and a volume knob) has two rear USB ports, both with about 3 feet of cable, so they can be easily located where you want. One of them is for charging only -- CONVENIENT! It required a little USB-A to USB-C adapter, which I already had laying around.

Here's how it looks installed. You can barely even see it's there!