General Motors to Phase Out Apple CarPlay Starting This Year in EV Transition

[gbc204]

"GM owns Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC "

Honestly, every time I see a Buick or Chevy on the road, I assume it's a rental car. I don't know anyone who's owned a Buick this century... Which is ironic since the last Buick my family owned was a 1990 Buick Century.
So losing CarPlay will probably mostly anger people who just got off planes getting into their midsize rentals, who are probably already in a bad mood.

 

[Armada2]

I guess some of the board members for GM received a nice bonus.

Confused how this is allowed yet Apple is trying to be forced to allow more options on their own platform..

 

[KrisLord]

A decision made by the bean counters in an attempt to drive subscription services revenue but this will just end up driving many (though not all) potential customers away.

As a bean counter this wouldn’t be their decision.

Bean counters drive cars and know the benefit of CarPlay or android auto.

They also know that charging people for what they get for free today isn’t going to sell more cars.

 

[terrywfoster]

Another reason not to buy a POS GM vehicle.

 

[nwcs]

I like CarPlay but it isn’t a must have for me. The non negotiable for me is an all electronic dashboard/console. I do not want that. It’s one of several significant reasons why I won’t buy a Tesla either.

I see this as something that will raise antitrust issues at some point given the current climate and options being locked out.

 

[gbc204]

This is moronic. Way back in 2014 when I was buying a car, choosing between a cheap Hyundai and a cheap Mazda, just the suggestion that Hyundai would get CarPlay first was the tie-breaker. And it took like five more years for Mazda to get CarPlay. And since then, I've bought... three Hyundais and one Genesis. And zero Mazdas.
Is someone inside GM just trying to tank the company's stock price or something?

 

[icolove]

"GM owns Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC "

Honestly, every time I see a Buick or Chevy on the road, I assume it's a rental car. I don't know anyone who's owned a Buick this century... Which is ironic since the last Buick my family owned was a 1990 Buick Century.
So losing CarPlay will probably mostly anger people who just got off planes getting into their midsize rentals, who are probably already in a bad mood.

Buick is a massive brand in China. I think they sell about 1.5 million vehicles a year.

 

[robd003]

Whats the best way to send GM feedback on this?

 

[jaytv111]

Whats the best way to send GM feedback on this?

Contact GM or Our Vehicle Brands | General Motors

Contact General Motors or any of our vehicle brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac, for support, questions, feedback or licensing inquiries.

www.gm.com

Snail mail, apparently.

 

[spazzcat]

Best luck to them, but I will not own a car that doesn't support carplay ...

 

[icolove]

As a bean counter this wouldn’t be their decision.

Bean counters drive cars and know the benefit of CarPlay or android auto.

They also know that charging people for what they get for free today isn’t going to sell more cars.

CarPlay and Android Auto are ugly solutions, there's nothing sexy about their implementation over ancient software. There's also nothing sexy about automakers having to add hardware to support both.

It is grossly inefficient.

 

[kevinbal]

Got a Bolt EUV last November and enjoying Apple CarPlay but this development would ensure that my future vehicle will not be a GM, stupid move GM!

Exactly my thoughts. Bought my Bolt last spring, love it. Not having CarPlay is a non-starter for future purchases. The GM infotainment experience is ****.

 

[Robert.Walter]

I’ll not buy any car without CarPlay.

 

[siddavis]

Gave GM (another) shot in 2009. Unloaded that hunk of crap in 2020 after years of basically replacing most major parts except the overall engine. This decision pours another 12 inch layer of concrete on that coffin for me.

 

[Gherkin]

Honestly all I use CarPlay for is Google Maps and Spotify.

If this new system can still do those things smoothly I guess whatever.

I would be worried if this was some in-house solution. Coming from Google it will be solid, but a lot of Apple users will turn their nose up at using it (lol).

The free for 8 years thing is stupid though.

 

[Rogifan]

And people still think Apple’s play here shouldn’t be a car but providing the infotainment for other automakers?

 

[Mr_Ed]

While I don’t think dropping CarPlay/Android Auto from future vehicles is a good thing (I think more choices for interacting with the vehicle is a good thing), you’ll have to count me among those who don’t find CarPlay particularly useful or desirable at present time. I realize everyone uses their devices differently, but it’s just not compelling for me.

My previous vehicle (9 yr old Audi) did not have CarPlay. My iPhone connected via Bluetooth automatically and I could access music in the phone through the car’s UI. I rarely used Siri, and when I tried, it was less than helpful or optimal. I generally used the built-in navigation. For music, I generally used the radio, music on the iPhone itself, occasionally streaming from phone, and a bunch of music in an SD card stuffed in a slot in the car. I could operate all the music options through the car’s UI.

I now have a new car (~ 2 months old) and it has wireless CarPlay, but I have it in the background. It only comes forward when I activate Siri or if I get a text message. I honestly prefer the car’s native UI, and find the CarPlay screen rather loud/jarring by comparison. I’ve only tried to use Siri a few times because the car‘s own voice assistant is more than good enough for what I typically do while driving.

 

[NY Guitarist]

Can I opt out of having my car sharing my person data and tracking my movements?

 

[magicschoolbus]

Sweet an expensive car that takes 40 min to charge on a road trip that lacks car play. Worth it!!

 

[gleepskip]

CarPlay and Android Auto are ugly solutions

They are necessary solutions to somewhat future-proof your expensive vehicle. When I turn on my car, the nearly-useless manufacturer UI appears. One click and the latest iOS 16 interface appears.

The vast majority of manufacturers will not update their software apart from defects for the life of your vehicle. They already made the sale, so there is no motivation!

I was thrilled when iPhone hit the scene and I got to say goodbye to awful carrier UI's. The AT&T badge was in the top corner of the screen, but they had no input on how I could use my phone or their network.

 

[CyberBob859]

Really? Honda is doing the exact same thing. You can't get CarPlay on the new 2023 Accord.

Not quite. CarPlay is available on all 2023 Honda Accord trims. However, Google Assistant is available on the top Touring trim, but CarPlay still works with it.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I'm sure this will be a huge winner for them. /snark

Wow... Just what the people want, a proprietary (Google) mess of a UI in their car. But I guess the replacement market will step up and provide sustenance for the masses... Crutchfield is where I got a new head unit for my Mercedes years ago. 🤷🏻‍♂️

EDIT: I think the wife's Toyota supports it, but she hasn't either enabled it 'because', or can't figure out how to do it. It looks like it could be a lot better than the standard UI. Is there a video that shows CarPlay at work?

 

[mediacomposer]

I loved my Bolt so much - GM has such an edge on Tesla - but alas, capitalism knows when to ruin a good thing - absolute bone headed move...

 

[NT1440]

Honestly all I use CarPlay for is Google Maps and Spotify.

If this new system can still do those things smoothly I guess whatever.

I would be worried if this was some in-house solution. Coming from Google it will be solid, but a lot of Apple users will turn their nose up at using it (lol).

The free for 8 years thing is stupid though.

I wouldn’t trust car manufacturers to make a usable info screen solution. There’s a reason they all look like garbage and have dreadful 90’s era ATM touchscreen technology.

Expect an accountant to shoot down anything that will actually function well so that 3 cents per vehicle can be saved.

I doubt Google is even going to be happy with the end implementation this. The software may be fine, but the hardware running it will be too outdated at launch, let alone the crippling that will happen when a software update comes out.


Come to think of it, this is just the (dreadful) Smart TV paradigm brought to cars. Sell at break even (or a loss) with the promise of making income off data collection over the life of the device…

 

[hybrid_x]

They must really miss the sweet subscription fees for GPS and other services. This is an unbelievably stupid move.