I had a Mercedes EV courtesy car last year for a week. It was just as bad, with chrome-effect bling all over the place. Worse, it had glowing LED strips that slowly changed colour at night, lighting up the car interior like a weird disco.
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GM Again Attempts to Explain Its Decision to Drop CarPlay in New EVs
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I had a Mercedes EV courtesy car last year for a week. It was just as bad, with chrome-effect bling all over the place. Worse, it had glowing LED strips that slowly changed colour at night, lighting up the car interior like a weird disco.
…what? Apple has gotten very good at vertical integration over 40ish years, and is still the only large company to have done so. GM has not and will not.
I nor anyone in my family are going to consider any car without CarPlay.
But hey, GM do GM. I wish them best of luck in their future endeavors.
But hey, GM do GM. I wish them best of luck in their future endeavors.
I think it is rare for people not to have their phones with them.
OnStar still offers vehicle integration such as diagnostics and stolen theft tracking and navigation. GM could improve upon OnStar but they also want to force everyone to use it or nothing at all?
That strategy didn't work out very well for Toyota. A few years ago, before Toyota adopted CarPlay, I would have bought one of their vehicles, but opted for a Mazda instead - almost solely because of CarPlay. The good news is that I ended up loving that Mazda and our household has bought a couple more since.
My wife used to have a Tesla, and while the system was decent, I absolutely do not want (read as refuse) my car to be connected independent of my phone. I disconnected the cell antenna on my VW to be sure.
Either way, the wife and I are both likely to purchase a vehicle in the next year or so and we won't be considering anything from GM (or Tesla).
I would have bought an EV Chevy Equinox this year but I'm not going to because of this sole reason
This is a car company that considers the car the center of the universe. This isn’t going to work. Who is the user persona other than someone who literally lives in a car?
Shows, to me, that GM doesn't understand this at all. One of the main benefits of CarPlay is that what is on the car matches what is on your phone. I can set things up on my phone and just use them in the car. I would not, as many others, buy a car that doesn't support CarPlay.
If they want t go this way, they better invest enough to provide a reliable and comfortable system. But they will not.
I had a Bolt EUV up until about 6 weeks ago, it did have Carplat. What I can say about the mychevy phone app is that it was total garbage, didn’t work and if that isn’t any indication of t/heir SW quality … so good luck GM with that decision.
Meanwhile I got a Hyundai IONIQ 5 which does have CarPlay and it is a much better car.
Kiss my ass I'm not paying more subscriptions to use my truck.
If they don't have CarPlay I don't even look at them.
Then surely if you're so confident that you're providing a better customer experience, you have nothing to fear by enabling carplay too?
Agreed. I bought a Chevy Bolt in 2022, my first American car in 40 years, and loved it. I’d go back to Chevy but won’t buy one without CarPlay.
I owned a GM Volt. Great car… except the infotainment system. The garbage infotainment system, which could not be upgraded, made me long for a new car, and was one of the things that guaranteed I bought something else when I replaced it.
My current Honda’s infotainment and navigation system isn’t great, but it supports CarPlay, so no matter how bad it is, I can always just use the latest and greatest from Apple.
I’ve owned six different iPhones since I bought this car. Siri has improved, maps have improved vastly, Zoom has become a thing, the CPU is many times faster. The fact that my car is still running software from the previous decade with crappy, out-of-date maps that I would have to pay to update to crappy accurate maps is irrelevant, because I can use a 2024 OS with 2024 maps with 2024 apps and a 2024 voice assistant on a 2024 CPU, none of which I have to pay anything extra for. The only technology I’m stuck with is Honda’s 2017 screen.
I swore after my last experience I would never buy a car without CarPlay again, and nothing GM—which I’d otherwise be considering for my next EV—can say is going to convince me otherwise.
My current Honda’s infotainment and navigation system isn’t great, but it supports CarPlay, so no matter how bad it is, I can always just use the latest and greatest from Apple.
I’ve owned six different iPhones since I bought this car. Siri has improved, maps have improved vastly, Zoom has become a thing, the CPU is many times faster. The fact that my car is still running software from the previous decade with crappy, out-of-date maps that I would have to pay to update to crappy accurate maps is irrelevant, because I can use a 2024 OS with 2024 maps with 2024 apps and a 2024 voice assistant on a 2024 CPU, none of which I have to pay anything extra for. The only technology I’m stuck with is Honda’s 2017 screen.
I swore after my last experience I would never buy a car without CarPlay again, and nothing GM—which I’d otherwise be considering for my next EV—can say is going to convince me otherwise.
This will be a failure for GM. Automakers don't support their software over the full lifetime of their vehicles. Maps won't keep up with changes, directions will become more faulty over time and you won't be able to navigate to new businesses that continually pop up over time. They'll change their platform every few years and abandon all support for the installed base.
Take Ford as an example. I have a 2015 F150 that came with the awful Microsoft based Sync 2 navigation system. In 2017, I purchased a 2016 CarPlay enabled Sync 3 head unit that is completely compatible with the 2015 vehicle. Unfortunately, software updates for the Sync 3 are tied to the VIN of the vehicle, so I, nor Ford, can ever update the maps or other software in the head unit. Not that there are any substantial updates to begin with.
Subscription based software from companies that aren't resourced enough will fail.
Take Ford as an example. I have a 2015 F150 that came with the awful Microsoft based Sync 2 navigation system. In 2017, I purchased a 2016 CarPlay enabled Sync 3 head unit that is completely compatible with the 2015 vehicle. Unfortunately, software updates for the Sync 3 are tied to the VIN of the vehicle, so I, nor Ford, can ever update the maps or other software in the head unit. Not that there are any substantial updates to begin with.
Subscription based software from companies that aren't resourced enough will fail.
Just more marketing words to cover the real motivation of every executive in the software industry right now.
It's about control, and monetizing every possible aspect of the vehicle's occupants at all times. Nothing more, nothing less.
The user experience is just an excuse. Guaranteed this guy drives an expensive import and not a GM. Executives don't use their own products anymore.
It's about control, and monetizing every possible aspect of the vehicle's occupants at all times. Nothing more, nothing less.
The user experience is just an excuse. Guaranteed this guy drives an expensive import and not a GM. Executives don't use their own products anymore.
We’ll see how this plays out. Not very smart if your customers expect it. Especially given that the younger people are far more likely to use an iPhone, and are going to represent an increasingly higher percentage of car buyers with each upcoming year.
Perhaps GM should start thinking about getting into some other business? There’s got to be *something* they are not mediocre at.
The best part of this article is about how he describes how Product managers work
"Their job is to be the voice of the customer inside the company. They listen to the customer, they listen to journalists, they listen to the zeitgeist, they do research themselves, read research, and develop a thesis and, eventually, a hypothesis around, “Wouldn’t it be great, wouldn’t it be cool, wouldn’t it be amazingly interesting to do X?” That’s the what and why part; that’s what product managers do."
Clearly these product managers are either really bad at their job, or work in an environment where they do not feel the can express their true findings. The customer base is overwhelmingly telling them that they do not agree and it is being completely ignored. The voice of the customer is overwhelmingly saying "Wrong" and "I will not buy a vehicle without it".
I can't say I have seen an article showing support of this, and anytime this topic comes up there is an avalanche of comments and forum posts of people saying they do not like it.
I have been buying my vehicles from the same sales guy for 25 years, I called him an told him I wouldn't being buying a vehicle without it and would move on to another brand. He goes to the "Top Sales Leaders" yearly celebration every year and said they are all giving them the same feedback "Customers disagree" and its being ignored.
"Their job is to be the voice of the customer inside the company. They listen to the customer, they listen to journalists, they listen to the zeitgeist, they do research themselves, read research, and develop a thesis and, eventually, a hypothesis around, “Wouldn’t it be great, wouldn’t it be cool, wouldn’t it be amazingly interesting to do X?” That’s the what and why part; that’s what product managers do."
Clearly these product managers are either really bad at their job, or work in an environment where they do not feel the can express their true findings. The customer base is overwhelmingly telling them that they do not agree and it is being completely ignored. The voice of the customer is overwhelmingly saying "Wrong" and "I will not buy a vehicle without it".
I can't say I have seen an article showing support of this, and anytime this topic comes up there is an avalanche of comments and forum posts of people saying they do not like it.
I have been buying my vehicles from the same sales guy for 25 years, I called him an told him I wouldn't being buying a vehicle without it and would move on to another brand. He goes to the "Top Sales Leaders" yearly celebration every year and said they are all giving them the same feedback "Customers disagree" and its being ignored.
It's all about the post-sale subscription model for GM.
- Want maps and navigation? That's a subscription.
- Want to listen to podcasts or streaming music? You'll need one of our car 4G/5G data plans.
- Oh, and we are going to sell your travel and destination data to everyone, and if you try to opt out, your infotainment system becomes brain-dead and can't do anything.
- Want maps and navigation? That's a subscription.
- Want to listen to podcasts or streaming music? You'll need one of our car 4G/5G data plans.
- Oh, and we are going to sell your travel and destination data to everyone, and if you try to opt out, your infotainment system becomes brain-dead and can't do anything.
Except Tesla and I believe Rivian.
and I’ve gotten several updates for my Ioniq 5 in just 6 weeks of ownership
Have you guys actually used Carplay? It's not very good. More often than not I end up on my phone anyways because Siri can't understand me when connected to my car.
If GM, Rivian, Tesla, whoever else can build a better system, be my guest.
If GM, Rivian, Tesla, whoever else can build a better system, be my guest.