Apple, Where is CarPlay Ultra?

[adisor19]

Consumers and manufacturers don’t want Apple UI in the cars. They (including me) want the manufacturer’s software to improve and combine it with back-end stack of the apps.

Yeah no. The first thing I do when I enter the car is turn on Carplay. I want nothing to do with the EV9's crap infotainment system that I have to manually update every year and where the only improvements are new ways for them to make money off me.

 

[bradman83]

A big car manufacturer will outsource to smaller companies over which they can be the major partner and can dominate.

Apple is too big and too scary for them.

Realistically, if Apple did want to become a major part of the car industry, they need to buy a major car manufacturer, and essentially merge. No smaller car manufacturer wants to get deeply in bed with Apple, because they fear they would be absorbed.

Most car manufacturers are developing their modern or next-generation software on Android Automotive OS. If Apple is too big and scary Google isn't far behind them.

What Google offers is a complete OS, not just phone projection, to build the entire in-dash experience off of in a way that each manufacturer can heavily customize. Apple doesn't have anything comparable. AAOS can be used entirely without a phone, CarPlay - even CarPlay Ultra - cannot.

 

[platinumaqua]

Like what's the point of making CarPlay take over the instrument cluster?

It is complicated to basically develop two sets of UI for the instrument cluster (remember, instrument cluster failures are recall worthy) and make sure it is compliant with the rules. It's no brainer that manufacturers are not hot on this feature.

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Apple has not provided any further updates on CarPlay Ultra availability.

CarPlay Ultra features deeper integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in apps for radio and climate controls, rear-view camera feed support, and more. The connected iPhone provides app-related data, while the vehicle provides information like the current speed, fuel level, tire pressure, engine temperature, and more.

There’s a reason why car manufacturers still hasn’t adopted it yet: no AI.

Yes many wants Apple to implement Siri AI deeper into CarPlay before they commit to it.

 

[goobot]

Why isn't the EU calling them gatekeepers and regulating them

 

[davitur]

We need to look at the economics of this as well as a bit of history.

1) Direct Competitor: When Apple previewed Car Play Ultra in 2022, they were still allegedly building a car (Project Titan). Why would another car company deliberately put a competitors advanced infotainment system into their own car. Project Titan was announced "dead" in early 2024. So, this would be the theoretical point in time other automakers would start to *think* about adding Car Play Ultra.

2) Subscriptions: Auto makers are like everyone else, how do we get that recurring revenue stream coming AFTER the sale of the vehicle. They are going to look at different ways they can monetize their infotainment system. I would bet some may consider charging extra to enable Car Play Ultra on their vehicle.

3) Life of the Car: I have a 10+ year old vehicle that had a pretty good (at the time) infotainment system. About 5 years ago, more than half of the "apps" on that infotainment system no longer work. Long story, short: the manufacturer no longer allows those apps to work on the vehicle.

As we know with our streaming and cloud world, agreements can end, licenses can lapse, and functionality can just fade away. Why add Car Play Ultra functionality if Apple will randomly deprecate cars older than 20xx, because they don't want to support an older API. ("Sorry, with iOS30, Apple Car Play Ultra will no longer be supported on vehicles older than 2028 - except in Europe, restrictions apply.")

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Why are you asking Apple, this is on the carmakers. And multiple carmakers are backing *OUT* of CarPlay. Likely not because of any inherent problem with CarPlay, or even contract issues with Apple - but because the carmakers want to wring more money out of their vehicle owners by locking them in to vehicle infotainment systems and either upselling them data plans, or just selling their customer data to advertisers/insurance companies/etc.

 

[macduke]

I was very surprised to not see it in the 2027 Telluride, which is Kia’s flagship. Especially since this is a new generation/redesign year. I have a three year old Telluride and it is borderline a luxury SUV, so it would be the perfect vehicle for them to start with.

 

[wrxrox]

Most manufacturers were lured in by Google Auto (like GM), or didn't want to mess up their own interfaces by having Apple take over. The whole OS for your car sounds like a really horrible idea to be honest. Managing media is great, doing the GPS is great, but taking over my speedometer and other functions just seems dumb.

That’s a shame as it looks better than most car manufacturers dashboards

 

[allenvanhellen]

Why can't our iPhones have a CarPlay-like interface when charging in our cars, a la Standby Mode? We could have one half showing navigation and the other half music playback, with a dock of a few chosen apps on the side, larger text including for iMessage notifications, etc.

 

[Thehangmn]

Here is the thing... I wager that 90%+ of people that want CarPlay, just want infotainment software that doesn't suck. using traditional Car OEM software reminds me of Steve Jobs pointing out the lousy experience of surfing the web or sending Email on "smartphones" before the iPhone. Somehow the Car manufacturers have gotten away with crappy UI for way too long. Tesla, Rivian and other EV brands are changing that.
the difference here is that apple doesn't make cars... they are trying to take over the UI inside another brand's product.

 

[subjonas]

No major manufacturer wanted to implement it. Much like the Vision Pro, it will probably just fade into non-existence over time.

If they would’ve just called it CarPower, it would all make sense.

Or maybe CarVisionPro

🤣

Eh? What is the connection between the Carplay Ultra situation and Vision Pro? Carplay Ultra is borderline vaporware; Vision Pro has been available to buy for a long time and receives regular updates.
Is the connection just that they're both not popular, even though they're for completely different reasons? Weird but ok. If the point is that Carplay is in danger of being discontinued, then why not compare to a product that actually has been discontinued like Mac Pro or iPhone Mini/Plus?
But really the only comparison that makes sense is to an Apple product that never came to market, like AirPower or Apple Car.

 

[AppleTO]

I have a '26 Hyundai Palisade Hybrid Calligraphy (with the large dual display), and heard Ultra is coming. Now whether I want to use it if/when it arrives is another matter. But with that said, since I took delivery of it in May, Hyundai has pushed out periodic software/firmware updates/upgrades for various things.

That’s interesting. I figured their new Android based Pleos OS may have a chance of getting it, but I’d be surprised if any of us with ccNC get it.

 

[hobnoble]

In May 2025, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of CarPlay that it first previewed in 2022. More than a year later, however, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to select Aston Martin vehicles with six-figure price tags.

In a press release last year, Apple said "many" other vehicle brands around the world planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. Yet, more than 15 months have passed since that announcement, and the software has still not expanded beyond Aston Martin. Apple has not provided any further updates on CarPlay Ultra availability.

CarPlay Ultra features deeper integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in apps for radio and climate controls, rear-view camera feed support, and more. The connected iPhone provides app-related data, while the vehicle provides information like the current speed, fuel level, tire pressure, engine temperature, and more.

The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can choose from various preset design options.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said he was told that CarPlay Ultra would come to at least one major new Hyundai or Kia vehicle model "in the second half of this year," so hopefully the software finally expands beyond Aston Martin over the final four months of 2026. We have reached out to Apple for comment.

Article Link: Apple, Where is CarPlay Ultra?

Seems like Apple overstepped its bounds, reached for too much control and the manufacturers backed away and are probably going them out when they get a chance.

 

[jonnysods]

You know all i want is to be able to read iMessage text threads in the car. Is that so ultra?

 

[mcpete]

In May 2025, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of CarPlay that it first previewed in 2022. More than a year later, however, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to select Aston Martin vehicles with six-figure price tags.

In a press release last year, Apple said "many" other vehicle brands around the world planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. Yet, more than 15 months have passed since that announcement, and the software has still not expanded beyond Aston Martin. Apple has not provided any further updates on CarPlay Ultra availability.

CarPlay Ultra features deeper integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in apps for radio and climate controls, rear-view camera feed support, and more. The connected iPhone provides app-related data, while the vehicle provides information like the current speed, fuel level, tire pressure, engine temperature, and more.

The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can choose from various preset design options.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said he was told that CarPlay Ultra would come to at least one major new Hyundai or Kia vehicle model "in the second half of this year," so hopefully the software finally expands beyond Aston Martin over the final four months of 2026. We have reached out to Apple for comment.

Article Link: Apple, Where is CarPlay Ultra?

People forget: Once upon a time, the phone carriers(i.e. Verizon, AT&T, Tmobile) in the U.S. actually develop their own SW/OS UI, along with dictating the apps that comes with the phone. Recall how 'red' Verizon's UI looks? If you go from Verizon to AT&T the same or similar Samsung phone's user interface looks and behaves differently! The first iPhone, with Jobs' insistence, broke that model! It's always a debate as to where to draw the line for a HW product with regard to how to handle the SW interface. Ultra is attempting to push that line with the automakers, in terms of what it can control, without Apple having developed the car(like iPhone). Whereas the regular CarPlay just plays nicely as an App, Ultra is trying to be the underlying OS(or at least more of...). I'm not saying who is right or better, just pointing out where the tension lies.

 

[dguisinger]

I like carplay.... well at least the idea of it. LIke you, I have constant carplay connectivity issues in my 2024 VW Atlas. The car doesn't like to connect, and when it does it often times drops the connection and won't connect again resulting in me having to stop and restart the car to get the connection back. The fact that my wife and I both use the vehicle and both use iphones just further complicates things as the car can't seem to decide which phone to connect to. I would never want a car that solely used carplay over their operating system simply because for me the vast majority of the time carplay is just a headache.

I like you used to turn my car off, open the door (to trigger the infotainment to shut off), and restart the car just to reconnect. Something that took me three years to learn with my Nissan was if you hold the volume knob for 10 seconds it resets my nav unit and instantly reconnects. But this is not something you should even have to worry about WHILE DRIVING.

Nissan's decision to also automatically switch to FM Radio the moment it has a slight interruption in carplay, even though the screen stays connected.... scares the living 💩 out of me and nearly causes accidents.

I am both uninterested in CarPlay and will never buy another Nissan after this experience.

 

[Brian Greenstone]

I've got an Aston Martin DB12 with CarPlay Ultra and it's amazing! However, I feel like Apple doesn't really care much about it and it may go away at some point which would be unfortunate. It's a really nice thing to have.

 

[!!!]

More than a year later, however, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to select Aston Martin vehicles with six-figure price tags.

Previously, AM entered a deal with MB where they'd buy previous-gen info systems. Aston clearly has no interest developing this area of their brand, and they're happy to give it away. They have more pressing concerns, like regulators trying to kill the soul of their (and every other sports car) brand, and producing soul-crushing SUVs.

including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis

This is just the same company.

In a world where at least some companies have learned that physical buttons are the way to go. Advertising this CarPlay screen just doesn't seem like a good idea.

Also, so many cars have tons of driver assistant features, which may be hard to display on the screen adequately. There are slight variations for things like adaptive cruse control or lane keep, sensors around the car, and various pieces of info you may want to know about the car which makes it hard to develop a unified design. Even the different trims of the same car have different ways of displaying some of this stuff because the systems behave differently.

 

[RaceTripper]

That’s interesting. I figured their new Android based Pleos OS may have a chance of getting it, but I’d be surprised if any of us with ccNC get it.

I guess we'll see. I'm not all that worried about whether it happens or not. The car as is suits me just fine. I bought it for road trips. For that it has been great so far. Otherwise, I'm retired and mostly just use it to haul my bicycles to remote group rides, and pick up more IPA when I run out. I don't need anything fancier than I have for all that. 🙂

 

[coolfactor]

No major manufacturer wanted to implement it. Much like the Vision Pro, it will probably just fade into non-existence over time.

Nope. Vision Pro is not just a product, but represents a spatial platform. Once they figure out how to project imagery into the air (ie. lasers), without requiring a headset, the true potential of this technology will be realized. That's the future.

 

[bluespark]

It is a joke, very few manufacturers would give up their design of the interior gauges. There is no reason this could not be added/rolled out to a ton of cars but considering very few underlying changes are made outside of a facelift or redesign most manufacturers will not do any sort of integration for the next 5-10 years which is typically the facelift/refresh timeline for them

CarPlay Ultra allows manufacturers to use their own designs for gauges.

 

[bluespark]

Taking a wild guess I imagine the other manufacturers did not wish to give up important controls and graphics to Apple for speedometers etc? A case of it sounded cool at the time and they thought yeah ok, but when they looked into it they decided against it. Hence very few are with it?

That and I guess also it seems more and more are starting to reject giant touch screens and no buttons for anything in cars, I think the worst example of this is having motorised air vents you have to direct using a touch screen, utterly pointless design over function rather then a simple knob on the air vent and you know it'll break one day.

In CarPlay Ultra, auto manufacturers do *not* give up design/graphics to Apple. Apple-designed themes are available, but the manufacturers can (and are expected to) create a brand-specific look.

 

[eddiezus]

I would pay so much money even if like Ford offers changing the UI to CarPlay Ultra as a subscription!

 

[Thehangmn]

In a world where at least some companies have learned that physical buttons are the way to go. Advertising this CarPlay screen just doesn't seem like a good idea.

only physical buttons are not the way to go. the cluttered buttons everywhere look of most OEMs is awful. a lot of the physical buttons are something you set and forget... why do you need a button for that? software controls can also be updated.