McLaren MP4-12C goes with Andriod for it’s IRIS Infotainment Update

August 29th, 2013

mclaren-mp4-12c-iris-andriod-update-001 While the McLaren MP4-12C excels in just about everything it does performance wise, from running 0-60 in 2.8 seconds, finishing the 1/4 mile in 10.3 @ 135 MPH and being a monster on the road course it’s IRIS infotainment system has long been plagued with issues and not so happy McLaren customers. The IRIS system was a $6,400 option on the MP4-12C and never lived up to it’s feature set as described by McLaren. The touch interface was very hard to use when buttons were small and the system was slow and riddled with bugs, crashing and restarting frequently.

McLaren did offer a free upgrade to the IRIS system to existing customers with 2012 MP4-12Cs to bring their cars to the 2013 MP4-12C specs but even after the free upgrade it was still a disappointment. McLaren had a new 2014 MP4-12C at Pebble Beach this past week and McLaren Life forum member MP4GASM was able to grab some pictures and video of McLaren’s latest update to it’s IRIS system which is now powered by the Android mobile operating system.

This latest update requires a new head unit and screen which moves from a standard touch screen to a capacitive one making the touch interaction much more responsive and easy to use. Other additions that were not available before are bluetooth audio streaming, tethering to your phone or hotspot to allow for internet based Android applications to run such as a web browser, tune-in radio, weather and more. Voice control over the system is now available as well and appears to work great assuming your not blasting around town with the McLaren’s 3.8L V8 Twin Turbo and 624HP screaming in the background.

McLaren representatives at Pebble Beach said the upgrade would be performed at cost for existing MP4-12C customers at $1,800 and would take 3 hours to install. Take a look through the pics and videos below.