At the exhibit, Tesla has the interior of the new Model S set up, complete with a center console, steering wheel and infotainment system so that attendees can experience the yoke steering wheel and its blazing-fast processing for maps, games, and entertainment.
The 'vehicle' was running a developer version of Tesla's OS with version number 2022.40.50, and this is where Apple Music was found.
Tesla’s notorious for leaving Easter eggs and hints about upcoming features in their software, and having this vehicle run a developer version with Apple Music appears to have been intentional. We first speculated that Apple Music was coming when an icon was spotted during Zoom's conference where they showcased their video conference running in Teslas.
According to the software menu in the vehicle, the vehicle's VIN was set to 'P3TERS3N1P000BUCK.
Integration
Tesla will be integrating Apple Music into their music player, instead of actually running an Apple Music app, which has both, positives and negatives. On the positive side, the UI will be consistent and similar to Tesla's other music offerings, and its expected to support Tesla's voice commands as well. However, it could mean that not all Apple Music features may be available.
Tesla is adding Apple Music to their vehicles
Aaron Cash/Twitter
Spatial Audio
Apple recently announced that Apple Music would support Spatial Audio in some vehicles. In addition to Spatial Audio, Apple Music also supports lossless audio for a variety of music. Apple describes these features as creating an immersive audio experience that produces "true multidimensional sound and clarity."
It's not clear whether Tesla is implementing Spatial Audio or lossless audio support in their implementation of Apple Music, but we may be limited to the core features. Tesla currently supports high-quality audio with TIDAL.
Release Notes
The Tesla release notes for the inclusion of Apple Music have been shared on Twitter by TeslaRaj. Although they don't reveal much, it does confirm that you'll need Premium Connectivity to stream Apple Music over cellular, or use WiFi, either while parked and connected to a local access point or using your phone as a hotspot. You'll also need a subscription to Apple Music. It does not mention Dolby Atmos or lossless audio, so it's a real possibility that those options are not included, at least upon Apple Music's initial release. Tesla's release notes are as follows:
Stream over 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists ad-free. Listen to your entire library, discover more music, and tune into live radio stations. To access Apple Music, tap the Apple Music icon in the Application Launcher, scan the QR code with your mobile device, and login with your Apple ID.
Note: A Premium Connectivity subscription is required to stream Apple Music over a cellular connection.
Tesla is adding Apple Music to their vehicles
TeslaRaj (edited by Not a Tesla App)
Release Date
There is no official release date for Apple Music, but the wait should not be long. It's highly anticipated that Tesla will add Apple Music with this year's holiday update, which is expected later next month.
Last year Tesla released a holiday update that included the ability to create custom light shows, a new UI, a customizable launcher, the addition of the blind spot camera and more. This year's holiday update is expected to include a variety of new features as well.
Apple Music, which surpassed 100 million songs back in October, is one of the last major streaming services to be added to Tesla’s vehicles. Currently, Tesla offers Spotify, TIDAL, Slacker Radio, TuneIn, and SiriusXM (Model S/X only). To stream music through any of these services you’ll need to be subscribed to Tesla’s Premium Connectivity for $9.99/mo.
Tesla is getting ready to introduce WiFi garage door support to their vehicles through MyQ.
Since our article yesterday additional details have emerged about how MyQ will operate, which vehicles will be supported and whether there will be a cost to use the service. This information is based on a page that appeared briefly on MyQ's website but has since been removed.
Vehicles Supported
MyQ's website stated that support for their garage door openers would be coming to the Model 3 and Model Y. While this makes a lot of sense because those vehicles don't include a HomeLink module, we'd be surprised if Tesla didn't also add support for the Model S and Model X.
Cost
Let's get cost out of the way. Although MyQ does not charge a fee today to remotely open and close their garage doors, they do plan on charging a fee to use their devices in vehicles. This could be looked at similarly to how some services are free to use on a PC but require a subscription to use on your mobile phone.
The price posted on MyQ's website was a five-year plan for $179, which is still cheaper than Tesla's $350 installation cost for HomeLink.
Unfortunately, this removes a big benefit we thought MyQ would have over buying a HomeLink module for the Model 3 or Model Y. For Model S and Model X owners who already have HomeLink included in their vehicles, it may not make as much sense.
However, MyQ does provide some advantages over HomeLink.
Integration
The good news is that MyQ integration will be very similar to HomeLink, and better in some ways. What appears to be a rendering of the feature working in a Tesla was also posted to their website which shows off a screen very similar to HomeLink.
On the MyQ settings screen, you'll have a list of supported devices on the left side, such as garage doors, gates and possibly lights, but we haven't see any evidence of the latter yet.
On the right side, you'll see options pertaining to the device selected, such as its current state, whether the garage door should auto-open or close and the distance when the device should be triggered.
You'll also be able to have the vehicle fold in its mirrors when reaching the target location.
If you've used HomeLink, this should all look very familiar since it's almost exactly the same. However, there are a couple of differences that give the advantage to MyQ.
The first is that MyQ is a smarter system and it knows the state of your garage door. So if you're arriving home and the garage door is already open, it won't try to close it on you.
The other advantage is distance. Since MyQ works over the internet you'll be able to trigger the garage door or gate from further down the driveway, giving the door plenty of time to fully open before you arrive.
MyQ supports an array of devices, but it waits to be seen whether there will be support for these additional devices such as lights and door locks.
Tesla requested more time for details to be kept confidential, and in doing so, everyone now knows something is up. A document dated November 18, 2022, appeared on Twitter on December 6. It’s from Tesla Inc. and addressed to the Federal Communications Commission. In the brief letter, Certification Engineer Cindy Li requests a 60-day extension of a previous agreement to keep a device secret. This mysterious letter set the Tesla sphere on fire with speculation to find out what is the secret device.
All we know from the letter is that model number 1541584 includes a user manual, internal photos, external photos, and test setup photos. Whatever this device is, it was going to be made public by the FCC on December 7, 2022. Tesla asked for an extension because the device will not be ready until mid-January 2023. The company wants to “avoid any unnecessary disclosure and competitive harm before our product launch…”
The poster of the letter, Twitter user @Taka87 reached out to well-known Tesla hacker @greentheonly, for some insight. The response: … something potentially major planned for mid-January which is just a bit over a month away... Like something that coincides with a sensor suite change.
That opens the door for the return of radar, which was removed last year and/or ultrasonic sensors, which Tesla just scrapped in October when it made the call to go completely with Tesla Vision. At that time, Tesla said in a statement: With today's software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and the ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.
There has also been a lot of speculation about HW4, where a high-resolution radar is believed to be part of the full self-driving sensor suite. HW4 goes as far back as the 2021 A.I. Day when Elon Musk said a new FSD computer would come out with the Cybertruck. This upgrade is now reportedly being developed by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). It is expected to be much more powerful than the current hardware by as much as four times.
Elon has also previously commented on HD radar, saying "A very high-resolution radar would be better than pure vision, but such a radar does not exist. I mean vision with high-res radar would be better than pure vision."
An unidentified part, closely resembling a new radar was found on Tesla's Parts Catalog back in September by @GreenTheOnly. This mysterious item was marked but suspiciously not given a name, a part number or a description. However, given Green's experience with the inner workings of these vehicles, Green believes it is a new Tesla radar. In a follow-up tweet, he doubled down on his stance, saying the part matches the high-resolution radar Tesla registered with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in June.
Fans recently spotted multiple Model 3 vehicles that had parts of the front and rear of the vehicle covered up. If Tesla is planning to add HD radar or change some of the vehicle's sensor suite, these vehicles may be testing exactly this.
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