Must you keep the SD card in the slot after it is complete?Program what? put the card in the slot and off you go.
So the difference between the CX-5 and CX-9 is that the latter put a small memory chip into it's electronics to hold the maps. The former just couldn't see that far ahead, thinking most people will never care if there's updates.
Like I said, most people will never careAnd how does the CX-9 get updates to the maps?
I think we understand the update part. It was suggested that the last gen CX-9 had a different system without an SD card a few posts above. I seriously doubt this is true as all the recent Mazda infotainment systems with Nav use an SD card. Even the new CX-90 uses an SD card, so this pretty much confirms the CX-9 also uses one...The SD card has to be there for the NAV to work. If you take the card out, the info system will deactivate the NAV function.
As for updates, you need to download the Mazda Toolbox app to your laptop or desktop computer and then insert the SD card into said computer.
The app will read the card, determine the version you are running and when you last did an update.
It will also tell you if you are eligible for the latest map update.
Mazda gives you 3 years of free updates. After that, you have to pay for the next 3 years worth of updates.