Yesterday Jaguar Land Rover finally and officially announced the $300 Smartphone for MY19 vehicles.  As it turns out this was also the official announcement for the 18C software update; with that came some more small details.  It was also confirmed that 18C is the same on MY19 as it is on MY17 & MY18:

• Voice command for Navigation functionality introduced for select models;
• Major graphical refresh on the "Home," "Extra Features" and "Customizable Homepage" screens;
• Minor user experience changes to the button and icon placement on "Media Screen"; and
• Additional shortcut buttons on the home screen for key functions within Navigation, Media and Phone.

The more interesting info is why there is so much confusion with regard to pre-MY19 owners getting their updates – some for free, some for a charge.  And for that I’ll quote the Jaguar Land Rover representative directly:

It’s not quite cut and dry. Customers are advised to visit their local retailer to determine if their vehicle can be retroactively updated. Not all cars are capable of being updated to accept Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There are some technical parameters that need to be met in order to do the update – specifically a car must have 10" Touch Pro or Touch Pro Duo, with Pro Services and Connect Pro (i.e. WiFi and InControl Apps). Our vehicles are also fit with three different versions of the UIP (center armrest panel where the USB ports are located); CarPlay and Android Auto can only function on vehicles with the top two specifications of the UIP.

Pricing conditions for retrofitting Pre MY19 vehicles (MY17-18) are not defined by JLR, rather the dealers have independent control over the pricing. There is a significant amount of labor time involved in the update and since it’s not a warranty-able item, some retailers could decide to provide the update for free as a courtesy to customers while other retailers may choose to charge the customer a fee to align with the labor and what the New MY19 owners are paying for the smartphone pack ~ $300

So while that does clear up some of what’s going on – why can’t Jaguar Land Rover step up and provide a VIN decoder for MY17 & MY18 owners worldwide that can instantly show if the vehicle is compatible?