Tesla announced earlier this month that owners of Model S and Model X vehicles built March 2018 or earlier are eligible for a $2,500 “Infotainment Upgrade.”
TMC Member zanary picked up his 2017 Model S from the service center Monday with a fresh install of the new computer, the same you’ll find a brand new Tesla.
Here’s zanary’s summary: “This is possibly the best $2500 you will even spend on your Model S/X.”
He offered a some early observations on the MCU2 upgrade:
My Vehicle: 2017 Model S P100D, built and delivered in September 2017. It is equipped with MCU1, AP 2.5 and I have the Full Self Driving pre-purchased. It’s fully wrapped with a graphic wrap and had no issues with Tesla performing the upgrade. I was already running 2020.12 prior to the upgrade. Still running 2020.12 after the upgrade. I only noticed that they pushed out 2020.12 just once after it was all completed. I assume that the option codes were updated, so when 2020.12 was re-installed it added all of the new “stuff” that is supported on MCU2.
Here are the details that might interest some of you.
You do get a new MCU screen. Mine still had the plastic protective wrap on it which I remove when I got into the vehicle.You do get a new IC screen.All settings are retained except for. (1) WIFI settings/connections, (2) Bluetooth settings/pairings, (3) Web browser favorites.Trip values, and custom labels are retained.Seat positions, mirror positions, and driver profile settings for each driver remain.Navigation history and favorites are retained.Favorite audio stations are retained (Slacker, and Tune-In)Historical audio stations are also retained.The warning “beeps” that Joe Mode reduces are much louder than with MCU1. This may freak you out at first, but it’s loud. It will sure get your attention.Two type of vehicle calibrations are needed. (1) One for Autopilot basic features, (2) One for lane changes with/without notification. If you go into the Autopilot Settings you’ll that the second one only starts to calibrate once the first one has been completed.Wifi appears much quickerLTE appears much quicker. It still connects to 3G when out of 4G and LTE range. The bar visuals have no change, but connection is much quicker.The games had to be downloaded for the 1st time. You need Wifi for this.There was a required Navigation update that had to be done over WIFI.Overall, the MCU is 100x quicker. HUGE improvement in responsiveness. HUGE improvement in refresh of data on the screen.Visuals on IC2 are 100x smoother and more detailed than before. Animation is 100x better as well, and so smooth.All visuals (garbage cans, cones, lights, road markings, bike land markings, etc…) all appear on IC2I did have to re-enable Ambient Lights. Maybe they turned it off during the install.The scroll wheels are hugely responsive. Each scroll now is recorded whereas before I would have to scroll a few times for it to reduce the volume or the temperature (both scroll wheels behave the same, so it was not a defective scroll wheels). Now, they operate so smoothly and with immediate response.I have the Premium Audio (which was standard on my MS). Before the upgrade I had a EQ that went to 12. Now it only goes to 8. It also has Immersive Sound with three options, however I tested it out with a variety of music (classical, dance, gansta rap, disco, pop, and Spanish), and they all sound the same. I think before I had Off and Dolby Surround. Now I don’t see Dolby listed anywhere.The release notes, manual all appears immediately. No issues with a blank screen anymore.YouTube works perfectly (like your iPhone in portrait mode where the vide is on the top, followed by meta-data below it). Sound quality is impressive for YouTube.I got my USB Drive working again. Just plugged it in. Before I dropped it off, I got the “USB Full” false positive error that everyone is reporting (even on 2020.12), but when I just plugged it in after the upgrade, it works perfectly. Not too sure why as I had 2020.12 before and after the upgrade. Very happy that it’s recording both Sentry and Dashcam again. It’s the S500 – TeslaCam SSD Extreme from PureTesla if anyone is curious.There is no FM/AM/XM radio. We knew that, but I just wanted to confirm this finding in the event you were hopeful.I did not get to keep the old MCU1/IC1. There was a $1000 core charge if I wanted to keep it.I did not notice any sort of USB charging speed increase (in case you were thinking that the amperage might be increased).Before you drop off your vehicle, turn off any Vehicle PIN you might have setup. You will need to re-enable it once you get your Tesla back.When you re-pair your Tesla with your iPhone, the name will now change to Tesla Model S followed by the name of your vehicle. Before the default was just Tesla Model S.When I re-connected my Tesla to my home WIFI, it shows up with a new MAC address, and the manufacture of the chipset appears to be LG Innotek now (previously it was Parrot SA). I’ve only noticed a 2.4ghz connection, but I’m sure it will switch to 5.0ghz when it needs to download something heavy (software, game updates, another navigation update).
Note: I mention x100 throughout the above bullets not as a exact measurement, but as a emotion statement to indicate that it’s so damn quick. It’s night and day!
Check out the full post here.
Image: Tesla
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