Apple Launching All-New CarPlay Experience in 2023 With These 5 Key Features

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Maybe is it just me but it would not like my car display to look like this, iPhone style. Integrating the iPhone is nice but this mobile phone aesthetics would not be my preference. I hope it could be modified. Call me old school but in a car classic mechanical switches with characteristic shapes and click feel make a lot of sense when you don't want to look down while driving. I am aware that modern cars get equipped with just one big monitor screen that can be converted to display anything but I got used and like "our" (my girlfriend's company car to be honest) current BMW cockpit interior over this. Our iPhones are already integrated today.

Exactly... And who out there is begging for Apple CarPlay to take over the ... instrument dashboard? What are they thinking? And who asked for it?

 

[rhett7660]

I have wired carplay on my Subaru Legacy. It crashes either the phone or the head unit every once in awhile. They both reboot if it happens. It was worse on my Prius.

Ouch... Yeah... I have no doubt folks are having issues with it based on the amount of comments I have seen and read.

 

[JoeShades]

Apple's CarPlay UI will probably be an improvement in many ways over most automakers glass gauge cluster UIs...

That said.. Not everything needs to be an fraking LCD/Touchscreen...

I want switches, knobs, and buttons! And dials! Remember those?

 

[Neepman]

We can always dream a little!

Yeah... that is some BS right there. I know BMW received a fair amount of backlash for this... Don't know if it changed their minds but yeah... BS. And that is probably why I will not own a BMW or Mercedes anytime soon.

They won't change their minds. Its this subscription automotive future that has and will keep me driving my 2001 Honda for another 10 years.

 

[lindros2]

Mercedes, Volvo and Honda were all listed by name in the article as “committed automakers…”

Good luck to Volvo and Mercedes.

 

[JoeShades]

They won't change their minds. Its this subscription automotive future that has and will keep me driving my 2001 Honda for another 10 years.

In my 2018 civic there are no subscriptions required so that is not a reason to keep the 2001. If you get a current vehicle then you can keep it much longer than 10 more years and not have to worry about subscriptions even longer.

 

[jwdsail]

They won't change their minds. Its this subscription automotive future that has and will keep me driving my 2001 Honda for another 10 years.

Hear here!

Hoping that by the time conventional ICE vehicles are banned from the road, that there’s a good Hydrogen Fuel cell conversion available for my 2008 Chevy.

I’d also be content with a Fiero or Miata converted to Lithium ev I suppose?

There are very few new cars out there that I’d care to buy at this point.

 

[mansplains]

I like the whole cluster integration idea if it's done right. I think climate controls are rather redundant, but things like oil level and tire pressure would be cool to see.

I agree, but with Apple and R2R, concepts like tire pressure are too hard for us laypeople to grasp. We need the professionals in a service bay to explain those.

 

[Smith288]

Exactly... And who out there is begging for Apple CarPlay to take over the ... instrument dashboard? What are they thinking? And who asked for it?

Nobody "asked" for a revolutionary phone to replace the blackberry. Here we are. Sometimes innovation is on things you had no idea you wanted until it's there.

 

[DrwMDvs]

I just want apple to implement turn by turn navigation at the cluster, like androids can on my car. 2017 Honda civic.

 

[Kar98]

I just want apple to implement turn by turn navigation at the cluster, like androids can on my car. 2017 Honda civic.

Have I got news for you!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1425501240469901315

 

[grmatt]

This looks so amazing; but painful knowing it'll probably be 5+ years or more before it's a reality for me.

 

[grmatt]

Looking forward to reboot this while driving 130mph on the autobahn…

Also worry about this! What's the backup like if iPhone freezes or crashes?

 

[coolspot18]

That whole dashboard picture looks like an accident waiting to happen...

 

[SkippyThorson]

Wow that looks slick, I have a 2022 Tiguan with a digital cluster, but I can't see mine getting that update.

I wonder what legalities Apple open themselves up for if the speedometer isn't accurate and someone gets busted speeding or something?

Apple isn’t taking over the computational data of the vehicle relayed to its instruments. They’re just taking over the graphical appearance of what already exists.

If your VW’s digital display says you’re going 57mph in a 55 now, it’ll still say you’re going 57mph in a 55 in CarPlay, but with rainbows.

🤪

 

[alexandr]

I agree, but with Apple and R2R, concepts like tire pressure are too hard for us laypeople to grasp. We need the professionals in a service bay to explain those.

With this — you can learn!

 

[mielie]

As an ex automotive infotainment software engineer this all sounds very interesting. However, my first thought when anything is controlling the instrument cluster is what ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) is needed? Will iOS have to be ASIL rated?

The article did not make it clear, but I expect that this will still run on the iPhone, with extra APIs opened up, rather than running on the cars infotainment ECU (like Android Automotive).

I expect not. I expect that implementing these new features will be a fairly big change for infotainment modules in a car, although it is likely to mostly be a software change, there isn’t always that much headroom on the hardware.

Apple are definitely better than the automotive industry at user interface software, but there’s a lot of stuff that you don’t see, where I am glad of all of the automotive requirements.

I doubt many cars will be updated, but that some of the changes will be available.

I guess this is because Apple are a US centric company, and DAB isn’t available in America, or is either satellite radio (Sirius) or HD FM (IBOC). However, as I expect that this will just be opening up a “tuner” API, hopefully it will work for all sorts of broadcast radio.

Whilst an infotainment platform is still under development updates tend to be available, Land Rover’s PIVI has been good for that.

Again, if it is just an API, there’s no reason it could not work with HUD. A lot of HUD implementations already share video input with the instrument cluster.

There’s a lot of safety/legal stuff for the instrument cluster. I’m also interested to see how this is handled.

The OEM interface will still be there, as the car would never get type approved requiring an external device for basic features.

iOS update, new features will show up on cars that call the APIs is my best guess.

I doubt it. CarPlay has actually driven a resurgence of aftermarket headunits, as people want CarPlay. The type of cars that this will be going on, with distributed infotainment architectures, wouldn’t be suitable for aftermarket headunits anyway.

The hardware required for CarPlay and Android Auto are very similar, and both can be supported on the same infotainment module. I’m not sure about royalties, but Apple do have to sign off on the CarPlay implementation.

I expect that Apple will have their APIs ready long before the vehicle OEMs will be ready to use them to their full extent.

Apple are actually really good at this, CarPlay/Siri is generally better than OEM interfaces.


It will just be another set of APIs, it should work with both Android Automotive and QNX. It will be down to the vehicle OEMs to implement.

I think that they see CarPlay as a necessary evil. Car companies want to keep/sell the data produced by the car, not give it away to Apple. However consumers love CarPlay.

they will get some of the features, but given that most of them are to do with vehicle integration it will be tricky. Maybe there will be some support where there are gateway modules to the vehicle networks, for example I know of some model specific aftermarket headunits where HVAC control is included.

All valid points. I doubt that it is an Android Automotive competitor though.

Don’t plug your iPhone into your car infotainment system then.

I doubt that would be the case.

Car companies aren’t exactly famed for their infotainment software quality either…

Really informative post, thanks!

 

[ThinCrustPizza]

Land Rover , Benz, Audi, ford , Acura….. care to elaborate?!?

Land Rover=Junk. Need I say more?
Benz=The same as Land Rover. However instead of lasting until 20k miles a Benz can make it to 50k.
Audi= basically the same unreliableness as a BMW
Ford=Welcome to burning. Old Ladies buy Ecosports and Broncos and Middle Aged men buy Marked up Raptors
Acura= they are still around? Great reliability, however they are starting to cost a fortune to repair.

 

[torontomax]

I'm quite optimistic with apple's car play but I still think this is too much information for a driver to get distracted. Feels like they're not doing field tests but working on CarPlay from their desks only.

But I believe in apple nailing on simplifying stuff. So fingers crossed.

 

[jonnysods]

Apple isn’t taking over the computational data of the vehicle relayed to its instruments. They’re just taking over the graphical appearance of what already exists.

If your VW’s digital display says you’re going 57mph in a 55 now, it’ll still say you’re going 57mph in a 55 in CarPlay, but with rainbows.

🤪

Yeah I was just wondering about lag etc, responsiveness of real time info.

 

[DNichter]

I love all of this. I just bought a 2023 BMW i4 which has a dual screen setup that would be perfect for this. Just comes down to whether or not BMW would support this out the gate or not. Considering past ties between the brands, I hope they showcase it on the new iDrive8 system, via the i4, iX, or XM.

 

[compwiz1202]

Have I got news for you!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1425501240469901315

Love this one, especially since it has temp. What is the third gauge with temp, though?

 

[philstubbington]

At WWDC 2022 in June, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, personalization options, and more.

Apple says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in late 2023, with committed automakers including Acura, Audi, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Volvo, and others. Ahead of time, we have recapped five key features to expect from the new version of CarPlay.

Multi-Display Support

The new version of CarPlay will be able to appear across all of the displays in a vehicle, providing a consistent experience across the infotainment system, instrument cluster, and any additional screens on the dashboard. Apple says CarPlay will be tailored to each new vehicle model to accommodate unique screen shapes and layouts.

Instrument Cluster Integration

The new CarPlay experience will provide integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster, including the speedometer, tachometer, odometer, fuel gauge, engine temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, and more. Apple says drivers will be able to choose from several gauge cluster designs and layouts, including brand‑specific options.

Climate Controls

You'll be able to access your vehicle's climate controls directly within the new version of CarPlay, allowing you to adjust the temperature of the A/C or heat, fan speed, heated seats, heated steering wheel, and other options.

Widgets

Widgets will be a key part of the new CarPlay experience, offering at-a-glance information such as trip duration, fuel economy, distance traveled, calendar events, weather, phone calls, the status of a HomeKit-enabled garage door, and more. It will also be possible to view and scroll through the widgets within the instrument cluster.

FM Radio App

The new version of CarPlay will include an all-new Radio app that allows you to easily control the FM radio in your vehicle, such as to change the station.

Article Link: Apple Launching All-New CarPlay Experience in 2023 With These 5 Key Features

Here’s hoping for Toyota support - currently have a RAV4 and probably going for a BZ4X this summer.

 

[_Spinn_]

This looks very cool and I’m excited to see how it will work in person.

 

[MacAddict1978]

And now the uphill climb over the next decade to get car manufacturers to adopt the FM radio integration alone…

It's just a GUI change. Most car radios are Android based these days (as is the whole infotainment software) ... and if anything, that's where Apple has some issues - having to write code for hardware that is made for Android because not everyone has an iPhone and that will probably not change. When someone isn't using Carplay, the native experience is probably Android under the hood. Unless Apple has managed to keep a secret and the non-iPhone connected experience will be some native IOS based install instead of Android in the infotainment system, which is what they should have been pushing all along. Except Android is open source and free and Apple wants $$$.