Pioneer AVH / iPhone 15

Today I upgraded from my old iPhone 12 to a 15. My head unit is a pioneer AVH1550NEX.

My attempts to get them to pair failed. I’m curious if anyone else has encountered this problem and has a solution.

Google I came across this from apple support community:

Just purchased this radio and could not get Apple CarPlay to work with iPhone 12 mini although it would work with an older iPhone XR. Spoke with Pioneer and the answer is; the unit is too old (came out in 2019) and will not work with an iPhone as new as mine. Pioneer is not updating software for models created before 2020! If you’re upgrading your car radio and want it to work with the latest technology, be sure the model you’re buying is VERY recent.

I’ll let my installer friend poke at it but my guess is I’m screwed and gotta replace the head unit.

 

I have a 1300nex, I was thinking of upgrading but never took this into account. May think twice. Same phone 12 mini haha.

 

I have a DMH-1500NEX that was installed in January 2020. I upgraded from an 11 to a 14 Plus and haven’t had any problems. I guess I should count myself lucky.
My problem with the unit is that about once a month it reboots for no reason.

 

And at the rate they expect you to upgrade phones they expect you to upgrade head units to keep up?

 

Lesson learned. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Turns out the cord I was trying to use was the problem. I bought a different cord this morning, it paired immediately no problem.

 

Reading the first post made me ask myself how can it really be the head unit age on this one. Fortunately a happy ending for the cost of a cable.

PS how do like that particular head unit, setting aside anything Apple related?

 

It’s been good with very few gripes. Beyond the above issue with a bad cable, occasionally it’s tricky pair but it almost always pairs seamlessly. Once it refused to pair for the whole day, not sure why.

Music, I’ve been using pandora which is ok, not perfect but by far better than fm radio. The equalizer has some presets and 2 you can customize and save. Adding the steering wheel controls is ok since there’s no volume knob.

Hands free texting is ok. I wish you could talk and send period. It repeats everything, asks if you want to send, then it says something like ok sending. I don’t really use it or text while driving.

Hands free calls is very good, no complaints.

Navigation I like to use Google Maps to navigate and Waze to see hazards. When not paired, I’ll look at the routes available before hand, then choose my route. Sometimes enroute things change, a new accident happens and I want to reroute. If it’s paired, you can’t zoom out at all to see new hazards or red zones on google maps. My work around is to unplug the phone, zoom out on the phone, then reroute, then plug it back in. So having the phone mounted is important. With Waze, it’s useless when paired. It will announce hazards but it’s not as helpful as it is unplugged.

I added a backup camera since my model didn’t have one to begin with. It’s set for always on so it’s more like a rear view camera. To get the camera view off the screen I just touch the volume up or down. After a few seconds it reverts back to the camera.

It doesn’t show all apps, just a select few. Getting it set up how you want is a little tricky. I had to play with adding and removing apps until they displayed in the order I wanted.

The installer I use I’ve known for over 30 years. I basically gave him blank check authorization to do whatever he wanted. I probably trust more than I should but I’m happy with the results.

EDIT: Crutchfield shows this unit unavailable.

 

Been thinking about something for the 2014 Rav4 my wife has. The Bluetooth is messed up and the touchscreen is rubbish. My research shows it's a typical thing and a new OEM radio is about $1600. She basically listens to the radio only and has a backup camera, and would like to use the bluetooth so her needs are minimal. We don't even care about navigation as we have a standalone unit.