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GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars [Updated]
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Unbelievable that a car company thinks that they can match a 3.8 trillion dollar computer company. What car companies do to Infotainment Systems is obscene - they don't offer chip or screen upgrades as systems evolve, if your system dies they charge you up to $5,000 to replace with original technology, they charge obscene subscription fees and they are negligent in building interfaces that require drivers to take their focus off the road. At this point there should be regulations that manufacturers support Car Play and Android systems, offer chip upgrades every 3 years. Their best compliance option would be to put a standardized socket for processor upgrade and to support Car Play (ideally Ultra) and Android solutions. Not that a GM car was on my shopping list, but I am thoroughly disappointed with Toyota's failure to deliver on these needs. You have a 2017 Rav4 Limited with Birds Eye view and they want $5,000 to replace, $400 for a map upgrade.
General Motors began phasing out support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles back in 2023, leading to complaints from iPhone users, but the company has no plans to back down.
In fact, GM is going further and plans to remove CarPlay from all future gas vehicles, too. In an interview with The Verge, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company opted to prioritize its platform for EVs, but the change will eventually expand across the entire GM portfolio.
When asked if users should expect that new gas cars will not support "smartphone projection" for CarPlay or Android Auto, Barra said "I think that's the right expectation. Yes."
GM Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson suggested that GM's decision to embrace its own system is a "very Jobsian approach to things" that he likened to phasing out the disk drive.
Anderson said that GM's in-house infotainment option offers a "much more immersive environment" and can "do so many more things" than CarPlay.
In EVs, General Motors transitioned to an infotainment system that it previously called "Ultifi." GM said that eliminating Apple CarPlay gave it access to direct integrations and information that it needed for its electric vehicle line, plus the company claimed that an in-house unified solution was the better option for consumers.
Starting with the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ, GM is rolling out a centralized vehicle computing system that it says will overhaul how GM vehicles are built and how they can be updated over time. GM will share software across its portfolio, including all electric and gas-powered vehicles produced by its GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac brands.
Article Link: GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars
This is really lame. I'm very disappointed that so many car manufacturers are opting to drop support all together. It's a pipe dream to think they could have feature parity with CarPlay. Are they going to offer Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps, and others? Unlikely. I like it when my Apple Watch dings for directions, or being able to easily setup my route on my phone and just click go, and have it show up on my car. This is just very very disappointing. I hope Subaru doesn't follow suit, but they probably will.
Personally, whether or not a car has CarPlay is literally one of the last things I think about when dropping 50K down on a vehicle. Maybe it's the Boomer in me, I don't know. Just glad there is someone not bowing down to the Apple Gods and trying something different.
Android Auto is projection, too. Android Automotive (confusing name!) is the non-projection version.
CarPlay Ultra is non-projection, too.
Projection is not a band-aid. Totally different technology that has a place.
Is GM using AAOS, as you're suggesting, or rolling their own in-house system? Sounds to me like the latter, which is a move away from cross-device integration.
Big mistake for GM. Off my list, too.
Unacceptable approach - screen is too small, larger screens allow you to get info more quickly. More acceptable if you are under 50, but your time will come.
How often do you replace your phone hardware and how often do you replace your car?
If, like most people, the answer to the first is a substantially shorter time frame than the answer to the second you’ll understand immediately why relying on a car’s hardware and not allowing phone projection is a problem
If somehow that’s not the case for you then consider the facts that the average time people keep a phone in the US hovers around the 3 year mark right now while the average age of a car on the road right now in the US is 13.
Put another way: when the average car being driven right now was sold people with iphones were mostly using the iphone 4s. My 16 pro is a helluva more capable than the 4s, the 13 year old car hasnt changed
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I'm not buying a car if it doesn't have CarPlay. That was my litmus test in 2020 and it still is.
The cross-device integration is Apple's strategy. When your phone, computer, TV, wristwatch, home and car all "speak the same language", it's a thing of joy.
GM is fracturing that experience with their move. Prohibiting CarPlay and Android Auto is anti-consumer.
A very dumb position for GM to take. You can still have your own system and allow CarPlay.
Be honest. There’s tons of niche apps that are not on AAOS. And in all cases, the app developer can simply release them for it since your claim is that they’re available on Android already. No work to do.
That doesn’t help you get CarPlay if you don’t have it and or it’s not supported by the car OS and display.
Also, there’s no need for any dongle as these cars are going to offer. Bluetooth just fine.
Really, really bad play by GM. Barra will not look back on this one fondly.
GM understands something I hate about cars these days: car manufacturers are software companies. We're in an era of huge, distracting screens. Car companies that aren't getting really, really good at the whole widget of electronics hardware and software harmony are going to wither away in the long-run. Outsourcing to Apple makes no sense. You can't differentiate against any other CarPlay-using vehicles.
It's the consumer that has to get their head on straight about all this ridiculous junk in cars. They're not punishing GM for not having CarPlay, for one thing. If they were, GM would've undone this decision pronto.
Personally I think infotainment in cars peaked with this:
It's the consumer that has to get their head on straight about all this ridiculous junk in cars. They're not punishing GM for not having CarPlay, for one thing. If they were, GM would've undone this decision pronto.
Personally I think infotainment in cars peaked with this:
If a lot of people don't buy GM, cause it doesn't have CarPlay, then they have no customers...
You won't buy a GM because they don't have CarPlay.
I won't buy a GM because it's an American car.
We are not the same.
I won't buy a GM because it's an American car.
We are not the same.
AAOS is still going to be there, they’re just alluding to more upgrades in ‘28 and probably a more software-defined car system by then (which has more to do with the electronic modules than the infotainment, ie making more things software-defined and changeable).
But when you use AAOS, whether you’re GM, Volvo, Ford, etc, you take the base OS from Google and you write your own interface and slap it together. That’s why these guys have the same OS but they have different interfaces and customizations. They have given no indication they want to move away from Google’s OS, especially as they do technically control the experience (UI) in their cars even though it’s a Google OS.
…nobody mentioned Android Auto. AAOS is Android Automotive OS. The acronym was used specifically to avoid confusion, so why introduce it?
CarPlay Ultra is projection. 100% projection.
And GM is using vanilla AAOS with their only inclusion being the brand app installed. This is a known quantity for some time now.
They probably don’t want to do that because it would allow unfavorable side-by-side comparisons. You know, the ones we’ve all been doing for years.
Of course, holding customers hostage on a “GM island” isn’t going to go well either.
Spiral incoming.
General Motors began phasing out support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles back in 2023, leading to complaints from iPhone users, but the company has no plans to back down.
In fact, GM is going further and plans to remove CarPlay from all future gas vehicles, too. In an interview with The Verge, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company opted to prioritize its platform for EVs, but the change will eventually expand across the entire GM portfolio.
When asked if users should expect that new gas cars will not support "smartphone projection" for CarPlay or Android Auto, Barra said "I think that's the right expectation. Yes."
GM Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson suggested that GM's decision to embrace its own system is a "very Jobsian approach to things" that he likened to phasing out the disk drive.
Anderson said that GM's in-house infotainment option offers a "much more immersive environment" and can "do so many more things" than CarPlay.
In EVs, General Motors transitioned to an infotainment system that it previously called "Ultifi." GM said that eliminating Apple CarPlay gave it access to direct integrations and information that it needed for its electric vehicle line, plus the company claimed that an in-house unified solution was the better option for consumers.
Starting with the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ, GM is rolling out a centralized vehicle computing system that it says will overhaul how GM vehicles are built and how they can be updated over time. GM will share software across its portfolio, including all electric and gas-powered vehicles produced by its GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac brands.
Article Link: GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars
Jobsian -> Muskian
I remember an old Pontiac Bonneville that had a stock record player in the dash...no, really...google it
Pontiac Bonneville with Record Player
"The 1959 Pontiac Bonneville is the most notable model known to have offered a factory-installed RCA 45 RPM record player as a rare option. This feature was part of a luxurious package that included power steering, brakes, a Super Deluxe radio, and other premium amenities. The record player was an innovative — though often unreliable — piece of automotive technology for its time, allowing drivers to play pre-loaded 45s while on the road."How often do you need to replace your iPad? How often does that need shrink if you only ever launch Maps and a music player? How often is that need when the car is a computer with, not 1 but, 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon chips and gets frequent updates?