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Here's the First Real-World Look at Apple's CarPlay Ultra

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The first videos of Apple's CarPlay Ultra experience are now available, providing a never-before-seen look at the long-anticipated iPhone-linked infotainment software.



British automaker Aston Martin today shared the first video of Apple's CarPlay Ultra experience in-action, followed by a detailed walk-through of the CarPlay Ultra system on Top Gear's YouTube channel, which provides the first comprehensive look at the system in the real-world.

The video shows the CarPlay Ultra setup process, navigation, personalizing the instrument cluster, controlling vehicle functions, widget options, customizable themes, and more.



Earlier today, Apple announced that CarPlay‌ Ultra is now available for new Aston Martin vehicle orders in North America, and will expand to vehicles globally over the next year.

Existing Aston Martin vehicles with the automaker's next-generation infotainment system in the U.S. and Canada will be eligible for a software update at local dealers to add support for ‌CarPlay‌ Ultra in the coming weeks.

Other automakers around the world, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, are still working to bring ‌CarPlay‌ Ultra to drivers. ‌CarPlay‌ Ultra works with the ‌iPhone‌ 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or newer.



Article Link: Here's the First Real-World Look at Apple's CarPlay Ultra
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/15/first-look-at-carplay-ultra/
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I wonder if the interface will change once the new operating system is announced in 25 days, considering they’re planning a redesign for iOS, iPad, Vision, MacOS, etc.

It appears quite impressive, though!

Let me know when the regular version is an available for people who drive Honda, Toyota, etc.
 
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Anaxarxes said:
Carplay is an interactive app that runs on top of the OS of the car.


If your phone dies either:
-you use AML's own infotainment OS
-you plug your phone in
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link! Makes total sense - just like normal CarPlay is now, then.

They're passing a fair bit of realtime data back and forth - I guess that's why it's taken a while to settle the APIs etc.
 
moodler said:
Thanks for the link! Makes total sense - just like normal CarPlay is now, then.

They're passing a fair bit of realtime data back and forth - I guess that's why it's taken a while to settle the APIs etc.
Click to expand...

A dedicated carOS — a standalone operating system for vehicles based on iOS/macOS — could offer a lot of potential. It wouldn’t require an iPhone to function, but users with iPhones could still benefit from deeper integration.

For something like this to gain traction, Apple would likely need to open up the system. The automotive industry is closer to the PC ecosystem, with a wide range of hardware, CPUs, sensors, and configurations, so flexibility is key.

A standardized Apple-designed logic board for vehicles, with a powerful SoC or SiP capable of running the full system — similar to Tesla’s hardware architecture — could make this feasible. With the arrival of CarPlay Ultra and Apple’s growing chip portfolio (especially post-M6 based on rumors), this kind of solution could be viable in the near future.
 
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Aside from what it looks like without a phone (which we all assume is some default Aston-Martin display), what happens to such a car's dash if you switch to Android? Is there some common standard by which an Android phone could address these screens as well or are you just SOL at that point?

Don't get me wrong, I like CarPlay a lot, but it's pretty clear that Apple is pouring all this effort into this in the name of platform lock-in. It adds another penalty to what would happen if you switched to another smartphone OS.
 
mac-imperator said:
Obviously nothing happens because, guess what? your phone is dead. At that point I am fairly confident that the Aston -Martin's default Dashboard OS takes over and will get you home just fine (fretting eliminated 🙄).
Click to expand...
Actually according to the Top Gear video, some parts of CarPlay Ultra run locally on the car like the instrument cluster, so it seems like some functionality won't be available like Apple Music but the UI will stay in "CarPlay Mode"
 
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ignatius345 said:
Aside from what it looks like without a phone (which we all assume is some default Aston-Martin display), what happens to such a car's dash if you switch to Android? Is there some common standard by which an Android phone could address these screens as well or are you just SOL at that point?

Don't get me wrong, I like CarPlay a lot, but it's pretty clear that Apple is pouring all this effort into this in the name of platform lock-in. It adds another penalty to what would happen if you switched to another smartphone OS.
Click to expand...

I've wondered the same. My wife is a die-hard Pixel user, and we share vehicles occasionally...both of ours work with CarPlay and Android Auto. I won't buy a vehicle that doesn't support both.
 
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www.caranddriver.com

Apple CarPlay Ultra Effectively Replaces the Native Infotainment System

The latest iteration of CarPlay brings an improved user experience and ups the convenience factor.
www.caranddriver.com www.caranddriver.com
"Apple renders many of these functions locally (as opposed to mirroring it from the phone itself) courtesy of an assist from the vehicle's built-in processing tools, maintaining a largely linear user experience."
 
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ignatius345 said:
Aside from what it looks like without a phone (which we all assume is some default Aston-Martin display), what happens to such a car's dash if you switch to Android? Is there some common standard by which an Android phone could address these screens as well or are you just SOL at that point?

Don't get me wrong, I like CarPlay a lot, but it's pretty clear that Apple is pouring all this effort into this in the name of platform lock-in. It adds another penalty to what would happen if you switched to another smartphone OS.
Click to expand...
Same thing that happens now. A car that runs this could also support Android Auto, or not.
 
mac-imperator said:
Obviously nothing happens because, guess what? your phone is dead. At that point I am fairly confident that the Aston -Martin's default Dashboard OS takes over and will get you home just fine (fretting eliminated 🙄).
Click to expand...
They said in the video that CarPlay Ultra runs on the car. The original CarPlay was all run on the phone and all the same icons are on this Ultra version, if your phone is not in the car you will not be able to run Safari or Maps, but the interface to drive is still in the car.

Nothing was mentioned about Pixel phones, but likely you'll get the same interface as you always did with AA where you click on it and the app opens access to your phone, but will the maps app connect to the center display in the car?
 
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At this point CarPlay does enough don't need more screens. Need increased stability and more integration with things like EV charging, Webex/Teams/Zoom/etc. This is the problem with development, flash before substance.
 
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