2014 JKU Dash Upgrade for Apple Carplay

T

thumper44

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May 19, 2023
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Hi Everyone!

I'm looking to upgrade my 2014 JKU's dash radio with something nice and supports Apple Carplay but a lot of what I'm finding online has bad reviews or some well over $1,000. Has anyone upgraded their head unit and have recommendations?

Thanks in advance,
 
I have a JVC head unit I have been happy with. It did lock up twice and I’ve had to use the reset button, I am not sure what caused it. Other than those two times it has worked fine. It was around $450 from CRUTCHFIELD with all the adapters, and I was lazy and had them connect the adapters on their end.

If I had it to do over I would get a unit with wireless CarPlay. My thought was I’d have it plugged in anyways for trips and fourwheeling to keep the battery charged etc. But it would be nice to not have to plug it for short trip around town, getting in and out etc. So given that sometimes I end up connecting via BT to play music.
 
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I have THESE inexpensive units from Amazon in both Jeeps. They work fine and do everything I could want. And since they're based on an Android tablet, you can install pretty much any app you'd like. So I have things like GaiaGPS, JScan, and Amazon Music available natively, if I don't want to bother plugging in my phone for CarPlay.
 
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I spent the extra cash for the Heigh10 from Stinger OffRoad. I liked it for the large display and the ability to have navigation built in without needing cell phone service. I also like the ability to have four cameras installed and the integration upgrade to pull up all gauges and diagnostics. It was worth it for me and definately happy i went with it.
 
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IMG_0990.jpeg


It was a Crutchfield Kenwood special. I ordered the model two levels below this and they sent this on as a substitute for out of stock on my selection. Way more bells and whistles than I needed.
 
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Snowbird Tom said:
It was a Crutchfield Kenwood special. I ordered the model two levels below this and they sent this on as a substitute for out of stock on my selection. Way more bells and whistles than I needed.
Click to expand...
My big complaint with the Kenwood stuff is a small thing, but to me a point of annoyance, and I see it in your pic there. When I assign stations to the quick buttons on the right... it doesn't update the button, it just continues to say 01 or something equally useless.

I'm not sure if any of the other quality head units do this basic thing, but a cheap one, >$100, from walmart did a few years ago.

Walmart one was not good, but that was a great quality of life sorta thing that made me like my Kenwood less.
 
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MacGuyver said:
My big complaint with the Kenwood stuff is a small thing, but to me a point of annoyance, and I see it in your pic there. When I assign stations to the quick buttons on the right... it doesn't update the button, it just continues to say 01 or something equally useless.

I'm not sure if any of the other quality head units do this basic thing, but a cheap one, >$100, from walmart did a few years ago.

Walmart one was not good, but that was a great quality of life sorta thing that made me like my Kenwood less.
Click to expand...

When I actually programmed the touch buttons, it shows the channel name.
 
Snowbird Tom said:
When I actually programmed the touch buttons, it shows the channel name.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I wonder if they fixed that in newer models. That being said, I don't do satellite radio, but ole' fashioned local radio, and with my 5-ish year old (though I'm unsure how old of a model it is) Kenwood, it doesn't show the channel unless I expand the side 'drawer'. In general, they just need a new UI manager.
 
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