The Toyota Tundra has been incrementally increasing the audio performance increases to its audio packages that come with its trucks.
Does the Toyota Tundra have Apple Carplay? Yes, the Toyota Tundra is now equipped with Apple CarPlay and also comes equipped with Android Auto, Alexa, and SiriusXM. This is a much-needed boost to the bare audio options of the previous Toyota models.
Keep Reading to find out more about all the Audio Options for the Toyota Tundra as well as other models of trucks.
Tundra Multimedia
The new Toyota Tundra SR Double Cab 5.7L V8 6.5 ft bed truck, which is Toyota’s base model of the full-sized pickup comes with the 7-inch touch screen system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Amazon’s Alexa, and SiriusXM.
This system has 2 available USB media ports, hands-free phone capabilities, and has voice recognition for making calls to someone in your contacts list.
This is a big upgrade from the previous years of the Tundra, where they only can with Bluetooth and did not have any smartphone capabilities. This was much needed from Toyota, as most all other full-sized pickups like the GMC Sierra, Ram, and F-150 have had these options for quite some time.
This is just for the 2020 model of the Tundra, in previous years only certain editions like the Platinum and TRD Pro even had the option for upgraded Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as a standard for those models.
Audio Plus
The Audio Plus package for the 2020 Tundra comes equipped with 9 speakers in the CrewMax model of the Tundra and a slightly less 7 speakers in the Double Cab pickup.
The Audio plus is seen as the Great base system for the Tundra and offers a lot for a standard option and offers a nice 7-inch touchscreen.
Premium Audio With Dynamic Navigation
The Premium Audio package boast an 8-inch touchscreen and offers the same 9 speakers in the CrewMax and 7 speakers in the Double Cab.
The Dynamic Navigation system depends on an operative telematics device, a cellular connection, navigation map, and the GPS signal strength.
This Navigation system is an option that you pay for annually, and the Tundra with Premium Audio has a 3 year trial for the option.
You also have the option to have built in-cabin Wi-Fi with a 2 GB download data limit. This however comes with a monthly cost and Toyota will give you a 3-month trial.
Aftermarket Audio Options
If your Tundra does not come with the Audio Head Unit you prefer such as one that has CarPlay and Android Audio there is no need to fear as there are many aftermarket plug and play options out on the market today.
An OEM Panasonic unit that will fit any 2014 – 2020 Toyota Tundra is the 7 inch OEM Toyota Tundra integrated Apple CarPlay and Android Auto System.
These are easy to find online and supplied at any local car audio store. They will run you about $600 which is similar to what the upgrade at the Toyota dealer will run you.
The Company Beat-Sonic offers a little different option that I prefer because the Toyota stock head units that did not have the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are pretty good units and still have great Bluetooth and touch-screen capabilities.
Beat-Sonic’s unit is plug and play with the Tundra and simply Mirrors the Smartphone screen onto the head unit screen in your truck.
So by plugging your phone into the USB port that is already available and mounted in the truck you will now have full functionality and be able to use all of your apps even YOUTUBE, which CarPlay and Android do not let you use.
I have always found CarPlay and Android Auto to be quite a hassle when you are entering directions into a place, the system does not let you use your phone to type anything in as a safety feature to keep you off your phone when you are driving, the touchscreen is difficult to use in order to enter a full address and can sometimes disconnect.
The screen quality on the unit once being mirrored is not High definition by any means, but most car head unit’s don’t have the best clear quality anyway.
TESLA UNIT
One more option I would like to show you, is the Android Vertical Screen Navi Radio for the Tundra 2014 – 2020 made by Phoenix Automotive.
This thing looks just like the head unit that is in every TESLA car. It is a 12.1 inch unit that is a vertical touch screen
Boasts 2 G RAM and 32 G ROM, completely plug and play with the Tundra you have complete access to download all the Android Apps in the Play Store. You can use your existing backup camera on it, and it is displayed huge on the 12-inch screen.
You are able to control the LED colors around the unit, the screen shows a large clock with small calendar next to it, you are able to have multiple tabs open and you can lock two screens in place have a clean split-screen display if you want.
You can install updates yourself buy download them to a USB thumb drive from your desktop computer and plugging them into the unit’s USB to auto-update the android software. This is common for most all aftermarket audio units and I have done this many times, most companies will be constantly updating the software and patching bug to deal with the new smartphone’s
It completely replaces the Tundra’s Heating and Cooling Controls, with built-in touchscreen controls like the Tesla’s do. Right now it’s going for $594.82 which is about the same as the other models.
The unit is obviously manufactured in China so I don’t know much about the Quality Control, but it looks and seems like a nice unit for the price. I’m not crazy about removing the Tundra’s OEM controls with something that can have errors and fail, but if it works as well as it looks it can be a nice unit.
Phoenix does offer a warranty and great support so I would feel confident recommending the unit to anyone looking to upgrade. The problem with most and even the stock screen on the Tundra is that it’s simply too small.
I find it difficult to be looking at a 7-inch screen in the middle of the dash and navigate that way, I prefer to have my phone mounted while using its GPS to the right on my steering wheel on the Dash.
With this HUGE 12.1 inch screen you get a bigger navigation view, and it being vertical makes sense if you’ve ever seen one on a Tesla you understand what I mean.
I think units like this one will become more common especially in the larger vehicles with so much wasted space. We’ll basically just have the computer’s in our Trucks at some point, even though it seems Car Audio is always behind in terms of Technology.
You could go out and buy a great new unit like a Panasonic or Kenwood Excelon Android unit and it can fail within a year so I would encourage everyone to get a warranty and have a professional install it so they are willing to honor it.
Related Questions
Does the Toyota Tacoma have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto? Yes, the 2020 Toyota Tacoma does come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, there are some packages that do no the built-in unit but most of the base models will have the six speakers, with a 7-inch touch screen unit just like the Toyota Tundra.
The Toyota Tacoma has the same type of packages as compared to the Tundra as far as the Audio Plus and Premium Audio with Dynamic Navigation, so you are still able to get the Wi-Fi option built into the Tacoma.
Can you Retrofit Apple CarPlay into the Toyota Tundra? Yes, as stated above, if you have an older model Tundra that did not come with built-in CarPlay or Android Auto there are many ways to retrofit CarPlay into your Tundra.
You are still able to take the 2020 JBL system which is the stock unit in all Tundra’s so if you want to use it in your previous model Tundra it can be retro-fitted and work just fine, however they are quite expensive right now from a Toyota dealership and cost well over $2,000 at the moment. I am sure these will go down in price in the future.