For customers in the market for an aftermarket CarPlay installation, Alpine Electronics this week announced that its new iLX-F409 receiver with a 9-inch capacitive touchscreen is now available at select retailers in the United States.
Alpine says the iLX-F409 receiver has all of the same features as the larger 11-inch iLX-F411 introduced last year, but with a smaller 9-inch display that allows for a lower suggested price of $700 compared to $1,000 for the iLX-F411.
Like the 11-inch receiver, the 9-inch model's display hovers over the dashboard, allowing it to be used in most vehicles without the need for custom installation. The display is attached to an adjustable mount that is connected to a traditional single-DIN chassis for compatibility with a wide range of vehicles, and the display can be tilted at four pre-set angles to better match the tilt and height of the dashboard.
The iLX-F409 is limited to wired CarPlay, but other brands like Pioneer have some wireless CarPlay receivers available.
Other features of the iLX-F409 include Android Auto support, hands-free Bluetooth phone calls, SiriusXM readiness, a USB-A port, one HDMI input and one HDMI output, and one rear-view camera input. When not in CarPlay mode, the receiver has a customizable user interface with 22 available widgets. The receiver does not have a built-in CD/DVD drive.
Alpine has offered a few 9-inch CarPlay receivers in the past, but this model has all of the latest features of the 11-inch iLX-F411.
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