Humongous Vertical Display À La Tesla Running CarPlay on 2008 Car Is Pure Bliss

But what you’re looking at right here is a humongous 16-inch vertical display, obviously inspired from the ones installed in Tesla, that’s now powering the wireless CarPlay experience on a 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser.

As you can see in the video, the screen doesn’t only run CarPlay, but it also provides access to certain vehicle functions, such as the climate control system. Theoretically, you can give up on the standard air conditioning buttons if you install this kind of aftermarket head unit. Now, there are several things you need to know about these vertical screens.

In many cases, they run Android, so you wouldn’t even need to connect your smartphone for an upgraded experience. Some come with wireless connectivity for Android Auto and CarPlay, as it’s the case of this one right here. Apple’s system is a better choice simply because it uses the entire screen estate and resizes the content accordingly.

Then, the aftermarket units are typically built by Chinese manufacturers and on sale on eBay and AliExpress for just a few hundred dollars, which means you’ll be in charge of the installation. The warranty is the same as for any other electronics purchased from these sites and Chinese sellers.

Manufacturers build vertical screens for a wide variety of cars, so if you want to perform such an upgrade, you should always choose the right model for your car.

Last but not least, as it’s easily noticeable in the video here, the new experience sometimes comes with a more or less annoying lag, which at some level makes sense given it’s a small computer hiding in there. Of course, considering the price, you won't be getting top-notch hardware, but rather a limited amount of RAM and a slow processor.