More comfort, smarter assistance and enhanced entertainment for the Porsche Macan

[Splaktar]

Yeah, I'm not sure how to set the flag in the profile. I entered my location and set my timezone, but it doesn't seem to update.

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[CandianPorsche83]

None of this is coming to existing cars as per this article and a porsche spokesperson. Same thing happened to Taycan 2020 owners. Now those of us who supported Porsche early will miss out again. It sucks.

https://www.jalopnik.com/1953153/2026-porsche-macan-ev-tech-towing-updates/

 

[byebye]

they are going to lose a bunch of future owners with this sort of behavior… and in the meantime, they will have to maintain at least two different branchs of their software which is never a good decision.…

I can’t’ imagine I have paid a useless second screen because of the inability to mute sound on it, while leaving the music in the car… and that Porsche makes the decision not to provide me with a solution.

 

[MatC21]

Lets just wait before we draw conclusions early. The quality of the source is unknown and it is not clear that this statement is true for all the mentioned improvements.

 

[seabird]

None of this is coming to existing cars as per this article and a porsche spokesperson. Same thing happened to Taycan 2020 owners. Now those of us who supported Porsche early will miss out again. It sucks.

I don't really understand this. Almost all cars get refreshed and minor feature upgrades in mid-cycle refreshes. It's always been the case that early adopters trade being first for missing out on some future goodies.

That being said, the article is flatly wrong on the "none" part, as Porsche has already announced that the towing limit change will be available in at least some markets. This is either just a paperwork update or a minor motor software patch.

Four other features aren't hardware dependent: the AI voice control and AirConsole gaming setup are literally just apps in the App Store, the additional Porsche Charging Planner preferences are a minor infotainment software update, and the digital key functionality is a slightly more involved software update.

The cameras, door sill trim, and self-driving features are the ones that rely on functionality not present in the car and understandably can't happen.

Anything else just depends on how much Porsche wants to invest. There's a good chance they won't do it, but it remains to be seen.

they are going to lose a bunch of future owners with this sort of behavior… and in the meantime, they will have to maintain at least two different branchs of their software which is never a good decision.…

It is true that it would be easier to maintain a consistent, single software stack, but I am not sure on the customer loss part. At no time has Porsche ever indicated that it plans to add functionality post-sale to the Macan.

Very few companies actually have provided meaningful upgrades to software other than Tesla. The only examples that come to mind are upgrades that delivered features that were advertised but not shipped with the car (like CarPlay or Android Auto support for Volvo/Polestar), or features deployed via app store and not core updates.

 

[Mwa3aan]

I don't really understand this. Almost all cars get refreshed and minor feature upgrades in mid-cycle refreshes. It's always been the case that early adopters trade being first for missing out on some future goodies.

That being said, the article is flatly wrong on the "none" part, as Porsche has already announced that the towing limit change will be available in at least some markets. This is either just a paperwork update or a minor motor software patch.

Four other features aren't hardware dependent: the AI voice control and AirConsole gaming setup are literally just apps in the App Store, the additional Porsche Charging Planner preferences are a minor infotainment software update, and the digital key functionality is a slightly more involved software update.

The cameras, door sill trim, and self-driving features are the ones that rely on functionality not present in the car and understandably can't happen.

Anything else just depends on how much Porsche wants to invest. There's a good chance they won't do it, but it remains to be seen.


It is true that it would be easier to maintain a consistent, single software stack, but I am not sure on the customer loss part. At no time has Porsche ever indicated that it plans to add functionality post-sale to the Macan.

Very few companies actually have provided meaningful upgrades to software other than Tesla. The only examples that come to mind are upgrades that delivered features that were advertised but not shipped with the car (like CarPlay or Android Auto support for Volvo/Polestar), or features deployed via app store and not core updates.

And Rivian. I have an R1S Gen 2 and we get really nice updates every month.

 

[byebye]

I agree @seabird no specific promise has been made by Porsche ... wait, they said that the PPE platform supports OTA.
What is the interest of OTA without updates And new, even minor, features and behaviors.

yes, let’s see how Porsche will manage the software of our so old Macans, considering that it’s NOT a mid cycle upgrade, just an incremental one to improve some obvious weaknesses.

If they use this as a selling point for a new MACAN, well, it will be without me for my next car.

 

[sor]

There is no need to release a software update to dealers for cars that are just entering production, so if week 36 does have an update release, it would be for 2024-2025 models.

It would also align to all the software development work the team has done in the past year since the last major release, and to previously announced week 36 updates for already delivered cars, times for the production changeover.

Hardware-wise, the only confirmed part changes so far are the surround cameras.

Yeah, my thinking is that while the changes are standard on launch for MY26, if it’s just software it isn’t necessarily going to be held back and applied to other Macans after MY26 launch. It would need to be ready before launch.

Even if there’s no hardware change required, they could hide things behind feature flags locked by model year. They’d be doing themselves a disservice though to not manage it all as one software platform, keeping older macans on a completely different branch to maintain.

 

[tmrqs]

Even if there’s no hardware change required, they could hide things behind feature flags locked by model year. They’d be doing themselves a disservice though to not manage it all as one software platform, keeping older macans on a completely different branch to maintain.

That’s the thing: if it’s just a flag that disables the feature for older MY, it’s still a single branch for all models. No extra maintenance for Porsche.

Think of it like the Sport Sound or the Chrono app, they exist in the code of all cars but are only shown on some cars (when the option was selected).

 

[sor]

That’s the thing: if it’s just a flag that disables the feature for older MY, it’s still a single branch for all models. No extra maintenance for Porsche.

Think of it like the Sport Sound or the Chrono app, they exist in the code of all cars but are only shown on some cars (when the option was selected).

But that would still mean older macans are getting a major software update. Features or no that’s a good thing. And it would probably be ready and come to us before MY26.

 

[seabird]

I agree @seabird no specific promise has been made by Porsche ... wait, they said that the PPE platform supports OTA.
What is the interest of OTA without updates And new, even minor, features and behaviors.

Lots of cars support OTA updates. Almost none of them have received additional features rather than minor patches or delayed features.

I’m not sure where you’re getting the idea that “OTA updates” means “post-purchase upgrades”.

The Taycan hasn’t had much. Other VW group products haven’t gotten much. Volvo/Polestar…not much. Hyundai/Kia…not much. BMW/MB…not much. Ford…not much.

It would be great to see, but it’s fairly unprecedented at this point across the industry

 

[sor]

We got some new surround sound modes in the EX90 last update. They’ve also been dropping OTAs about every 60 days, which is much needed. I believe Volvo also added digital key as an OTA, though that was before I bought. Not unheard of.

 

[sor]

To be clear I’m not betting on getting features, but I suspect we will get some sort of software update this fall coinciding with the MY26 and we will know soon what that includes.

 

[CHP]

To be clear I’m not betting on getting features, but I suspect we will get some sort of software update this fall coinciding with the MY26 and we will know soon what that includes.

To me most of these new things seem to be software changes only. Let’s hope they are applied retrospectively via an update. I like the sound of most of them, the key on your phone and the parking/camera display changes sound good.

I will likely take delivery of new car in the next 2 week (car just arrived at UK port). Some if not all features are fairly standard in the premium SUV market and thus likely finished ahead of new Cayenne EV presentation. As far as I know, new Cayenne EV will be based on same software platform but deviate from all other Porsche with new curved centre display (described as half opened foldable smartphone). After the rocky start of the Macan EV for some (got a lemon myself), I sincerely hope Porsche will make these options available for previous model years.

 

[W1NGE]

That’s the thing: if it’s just a flag that disables the feature for older MY, it’s still a single branch for all models. No extra maintenance for Porsche.

Think of it like the Sport Sound or the Chrono app, they exist in the code of all cars but are only shown on some cars (when the option was selected).

Doesn't Electric Sport Sound add additional external speakers as was / is the case with the Taycan?

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