Newbie here,

I just had my 2016 A7 Facelift upgraded to CarPlay. Apologies if this has been debated to death but as you may there are aftermarket modules available as well as software hacks as shown on YouTube. Also apparently this only works with facelift model as the background software for CarPlay is in there and needs to updated.

You may have also seen an Audi part called Audi Smartphone Interface which dealers show @ $525. This appears to be only a license, not some sort of module when one speaks to dealers who, from my calls, don't even know it exists or what it is.

I went the software route and it works like a charm. Happy to share the experience with anyone who is interested.