4x USB ports (Apple car play)

[Deleted member 6369]

I have tried to look at threads relating to this but I am unable to find a definitive answer.

I have a 2021 MG5 EV and it comes with 4 USB ports (2 at the front and 2 in the rear). There is only one USB port which will allow to link up to apple car play/android auto, which has an icon for devices and the others, seem to be standard USB ports.

My question - why is there only one USB compatible with apple car play?

 

[biffo]

I suspect it’s related to systems like CarPlay only supporting one phone connected at a time?

 

[Gomev]

I have tried to look at threads relating to this but I am unable to find a definitive answer.

I have a 2021 MG5 EV and it comes with 4 USB ports (2 at the front and 2 in the rear). There is only one USB port which will allow to link up to apple car play/android auto, which has an icon for devices and the others, seem to be standard USB ports.

My question - why is there only one USB compatible with apple car play?

How many do you need ?

 

[Deleted member 6369]

I suspect it’s related to systems like CarPlay only supporting one phone connected at a time?

Thanks for your response Biffo. Sorry maybe I was not clear. I dont want to connect more than one phone at one time. I would like to have the option of which ever port I chose, it will be able for me to connect to car play. At the moment, it is only restricted to one port

 

[Deleted member 6369]

How many do you need ?

Hi Gomev, it was more of an option to allow me to have access to car play from any port. At the moment, it only allows you to use car play from one port

 

[biffo]

Thanks for your response Biffo. Sorry maybe I was not clear. I dont want to connect more than one phone at one time. I would like to have the option of which ever port I chose, it will be able for me to connect to car play. At the moment, it is only restricted to one port

Yeah, I suspect based on cost and the complexity of supporting any one of several ports, the easiest option is to only allow one for CarPlay.

 

[echovictor]

same in my ‘21 ZS EV, assume it’s the same for all. That port is the 1 connected to the head unit computer. The others are likely running off a separate loop just providing power.

 

[Rob Smart]

same in my ‘21 ZS EV, assume it’s the same for all. That port is the 1 connected to the head unit computer. The others are likely running off a separate loop just providing power.

On my MG5 for the USB posts at the front, the one on the left serves for Android Auto, and the one on the right connects to the Infotainment if you plug un a USB stick with MP3s on it, so is not just for charging phones.

 

[SCB86]

I've leased 7 new cars in the last 4 years and they've all only had one usb socket capable of connecting to the stereo, all of the rest are just for charging devices. So I don't think it's an MG thing.

 

[EVTECH]

I can’t see any reason for needing the option to choose which port you use for car play, legally you would need to plug the phone in when the vehicle is stopped so it’s not hard to plug it into the dedicated port for car play. I work on various makes and models of cars and it never ceases to amaze me the petty things that people find to complain about, most of which seem to be design issues (that they seem to think should be designed differently). If we went back to cars of 30 years ago you were lucky if you had electric windows or air conditioning. Now we get people complaining about an intermittent rattle/creak that you can only hear when driving at 5mph on rough road (oh and only if the radio is off and a full moon), as if fixing modern cars when there genuinely there is a problem is not hard enough as it is.

 

[n0de]

One of the reasons is if you need to use more than one port, you need to provide an internal USB hub - there are loads of pitfalls with compatibility on kit that is plugged in via a hub (of varying chipsets)... best to just leave it at one rather than the nightmare of trying to 'fix' all the problems a hub would cause.