Wireless CarPlay

When I picked up my car last week, I brought along a USB to USB-C cable to connect my phone to the car’s USB port. But when I hooked it up, it seemed to work fine, but then after a couple of minutes, the phone would lose power and CarPlay would disconnect. I would wiggle the cord or disconnect it from my phone and try again. It would connect again but after a few minutes, it would disconnect.

At this point, I called my wife who was driving home with me in her car. We stopped in a parking lot and she gave me an extra cord from her car. This one seemed to work fine for me. Until it didn’t. Once again, the connection would drop after a few minutes. This time I left it in for about 30 minutes. It would connect, then disconnect, then connect again. So I finally gave up and discovered I had XMRADIO installed on the car. So I listened to that the rest of the way home.

Once home, I started researching the issue. I posted a message to the /corvette channel on Reddit. I was told the radio is finicky and the problem is most likely the cord. I couldn’t understand why these cords work in my wife’s car but not mine. I decided it had to be the USB port itself that is located in the center console. I looked online for the USB Receptacle from GM and found it. It costs about $108 on Amazon. I had a decision to make. Either I could order this and install it myself. Or I could make an appointment at the dealership, have them diagnose the problem, and possibly replace it under the warranty I purchased. But would it be worth the hassle? Or should I just buy the part myself?

Solution

I came across a possible solution on either YouTube or Redditt. It was using a wireless CarPlay adapter. I decided to go with that option. I ordered one from Amazon for about $30. I ordered the Burnt Sugar wireless CarPlay Adapter (2026). I thought I would connect it to the USB port that sits behind the screen. I figured that I could get that to work, while I either replace the USB port in the center console or take it into the dealership for replacement. But it didn’t work when I connected it to the USB port behind the screen. Damn, my plan was foiled. Before I gave up on this idea, I decided to try it in the USB ports on the center console, the very ones I wanted to replace.

I connected it and immediately it showed up on the screen of the radio. I went through the installation instructions and paired my iPhone with it. It needs to connect via Bluetooth initially before switching over to a wi-fi connection. It worked perfectly. I was able to use CarPlay, wirelessly. The question was how long would it last? Would it disconnect after one minute or so?

Guess what? It has worked 100% for me since installing it. No issues at all. In fact, I ordered a second one for my wife’s car so she can have wireless CarPlay too. I highly recommend this product to anyone wanting to convert from wired to wireless CarPlay.