[ItsChristianInHD]

Does anyone believe there will be a hack or update for our 2016-18 cars for the digital display from the photos of the 2019 infotainment 3 update? Looks pretty good. Wouldn’t mind having the update. I doubt they won’t change the hardware within the 2019 screens.

[mcintyre1969]

That would be thoughtful of them, so no.

[SPARTAN sui]

That would be awesome, but I doubt it also. It's still like $125 for a GPS map update in the year of 2018. Just give me the damn update. I can have up to date maps on my phone or an any 3rd party GPS unit. Why do I have to a special price for a unit I shelled out $500 for. I love my GPS, but map updates that cost money are stupid.

[WhyUMad1LE]

Well the screen & controls look identical at least.

Hopefully it's just a software update, but if the "brain" module is different then it could get pricey and difficult to program.

[Idyll]

I'd be shocked if there's not a new chipset running the software since it's an entirely new interaction process.

[ItsChristianInHD]

Idk I feel they won’t do that too save money. Either way, I’d love to find out if someone had the time and dedication to sit there and crack into the software.

[Eyefixstuff]

It’s an incentive to get the new one, so I highly doubt it. But if you can get them to do it for us, is there any way you could convince them to give us the A10, too?

[ItsChristianInHD]

I am not mechanical engineer. Although a transmission switch is way different than a infortainment screen/software upgrade/switch.
I do feel someone out there in the aftermarket industry will figure it out.

[bologdl]

Why can Google and Microsoft upgrade their OS across multiple hardware platforms but GM is unable too with My Link? I'll bet they can they just do not want to they always want you to pay more for everything.

[ItsChristianInHD]

Thats what I'm thinking! yet again, that would be "pro-consumer" not "best for business".

[RenegadeXR]

One positive thing that Ford did was unify all their vehicles' infotainment systems to a standard. It's relatively easy to yank out old MyFordTouch units from vehicles made near the start of this decade and swap them out for CarPlay capable Sync 3 units. Same universal ribbon connectors for both. Same exact 8" screen size for all units. You just need to mess around with what they call the "APIM" which is the control unit behind the screen to basically toggle some flags in code concerning what features your vehicle does or does not have.

I have no idea how MyLink works by comparison. From what I can tell, each Chevy vehicle has a pretty wildly different setup and it doesn't seem as modular as Ford's approach. Where as Sync 3 upgrades have become a cottage industry for Ford vehicles and is really well documented, I've never heard of anything similar relating to MyLink. I've never even heard of somebody successfully upgrading a smaller MyLink to the optional larger one, even if the vehicle could have had it as optional equipment. You'd think that would be the most straightforward scenario of all...

[Idyll]

Originally Posted by bologdl

Why can Google and Microsoft upgrade their OS across multiple hardware platforms but GM is unable too with My Link? I'll bet they can they just do not want to they always want you to pay more for everything.

Probably because Google and Microsoft were already running on hardware that was designed to handle current and future OS upgrades. Desktops and laptops shouldn't be compared to the minimum necessary hardware to run MyLink in a non-interactive environment. That's just my guess.

[fastball]

Why would GM change the hardware for a software update? That's like changing CPU processors to install the latest version of Windows

[RenegadeXR]

Originally Posted by TX Stig

Probably because Google and Microsoft were already running on hardware that was designed to handle current and future OS upgrades. Desktops and laptops shouldn't be compared to the minimum necessary hardware to run MyLink in a non-interactive environment. That's just my guess.

Modern infotainment system definitely have enough processing capability to have new features added in software for at least a period of a few years. For all intents and purposes, they really are like PC's, or can possibly more appropriately compared to smart phones in the fact that they use solid state and lower power designs. Imagine if you bought a fancy new iPhone X with its beefy processor and could *not* update it to iOS 12 next year.

A lot of other manufacturers are embracing larger-scale updates that customers can do at home without involving a dealership. Chevy is, at the end of the day, a very locked down ecosystem when it comes to these things. They want to up-sell. There's no technical reason they couldn't, for example, at least update existing MyLinks in older Camaros to at be consistently themed with the new 2019 refresh UI. They *want* the older cars to be perceived as outdated to a degree. They want you to look at that old interface every time you start your car and be reminded you don't have the latest and greatest.