New-gen Mini Cooper interior revealed; gets circular touchscreen

• New circular OLED screen with OS9 interface 
• Introduces new intelligent personal assistant 

Ahead of its global premiere, Mini has revealed the cabin of the upcoming fourth-generation Cooper. Apart from a new circular infotainment screen, the new Cooper also gets a minimal and futuristic-looking cabin.  

Mini Cooper Interaction Unit 

Sitting atop the dashboard, the free-floating infotainment is a circular disc measuring 240mm (or close to 9.5-inches) in diameter. Mini likes to call it an ‘interaction unit’ and it runs an all-new operating interface. 

This Operating System 9 (OS9) interface is based on an Android Open Source Project (AOSP) software stack with the scope of OTA updates. It gets eight ‘experience modes’ which change the entire theme of the cabin using lights, interface design, drive settings, and sounds.  

An optional light projector on the back of the touchscreen illuminates the entire dashboard in different colours and patterns. It also alters the HUD’s display accordingly. The all-electric Cooper SE will also get special acoustic sounds and 30 new sound signals with information and warning functions.  

Mini Intelligent Personal Assistant 

With the new OS9, Mini is also introducing a new interactive personal assistant. It can be accessed through the voice command ‘Hey, Mini’ or by using its name ‘Spike’. This assistant will allow customers to control functions and enable travel-related requests, among other connectivity features. The system is also able to differentiate between the voices of the driver and the front passenger. 

The system further gets a cloud-based navigation system supporting 3D maps, along with BMW’s new AirConsole gaming/music/streaming support. The configurable experience modes in the OS9 are – Core, Go-Kart, Green, Balance, Timeless, Vivid, Trail, and Personal. There’s also an optional augmented overlay on the driver’s display for navigation. Lastly, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto get wireless connectivity in the OS9.  

New-gen Mini Cooper premiere 

The new-gen Mini Cooper is expected to debut in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the all-electric SE version may join alongside the standard powertrain. We further expect the new Cooper to arrive in India right after the global sales commences.