Pioneer announces a new wireless CarPlay receiver designed for cramped dashboards

Pioneer head unit (Image credit: Pioneer)

What you need to know

Pioneer has announced a new head unit that's designed for use in dashboards that they might not normally fit in.

Pioneer today announced a new modular car receiver that's specifically designed to fit into cars that might not normally have the room needed for such a thing. And it also just so happens to support both wired and wireless CarPlay.

The DMH-WC5700NEX also supports Alexa and Android Auto alongside the usual array of entertainment capabilities. But it's that modular design that is what makes this particular receiver stand out.

"With the DMH-WC5700NEX, Pioneer provides an automotive upgrade solution for many different vehicles that typically have been extremely restrictive or even impossible with regard to the installation of an aftermarket in-dash receiver, including several popular late model Chevrolet vehicles such as the Silverado and Camaro," said Ted Cardenas, vice president of marketing for Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "With this solution, owners of these vehicles now have an option for adding Amazon Alexa, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and more to enhance and upgrade their driving experience."

The new receiver sports a 6.8-inch screen and can also play back Hi-Res audio via FLAC file playack. A 13-band graphic equalizer gives users the chance to get things sounding just the way they want, too.

Pioneer hasn't shared any pricing for the new receiver yet, but it does say that the company plans to get it into the market for summer 2021. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled for more information about a potential price and more concrete release date.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.