Tesla is considering adopting Apple’s AirPlay protocol to improve audio quality over a Bluetooth connection. In recent years, Tesla has placed an emphasis on sound systems in its vehicles.
The sound system in the Model 3 has been well received by audiophiles, and that of the new Model S has also received positive reviews.
Apple’s AirPlay system has also been compared to the Bang & Olufsen system often found in premium vehicles, but AirPlay has the upper hand due to its lower price tag.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave a comment to a reviewer of the audio system via Twitter.
Will discuss this and other improvements with Tesla audio engineering. The new Model S and X sound system is incredible.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2022
While on the subject of repairs, other commenters agree that Tesla’s sound system is impressive, but is limited by the audio quality that can be transmitted via Bluetooth when playing music from the driver’s phone.
They then suggested that enabling AirPlay would not eliminate the music streaming service. Meanwhile Musk said the solution would be discussed with the audio team.
AirPlay is a collection of proprietary wireless communication protocols developed by Apple that allow streaming between devices.
The protocol uses Wi-Fi, not Bluetooth, and because Tesla vehicles are equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities, there is everything there to implement a solution.
However, Tesla has been reluctant to adopt AirPlay devices in the past because Tesla has used Apple CarPlay first
