Report Examines GM's Controversial Move to Abandon Apple CarPlay

[H2SO4]

We didn't have any snow that stuck to the pavement this past winter. just a little on the grass. Different needs. I still use CarPlay every single day. Bluetooth is too limited or I have to be fiddling with the phone. not ideal for me.

That's fine. Like I said, quite often you are unaware of when the car is taking steps to ensure the safety of the driver, and by the way, other road users. These things don't even compare to a ridiculous software package that integrates some consumer electronics device.

 

[Obioban]

That's fine. Like I said, quite often you are unaware of when the car is taking steps to ensure the safety of the driver, and by the way, other road users. These things don't even compare to a ridiculous software package that integrates some consumer electronics device.

Except every car comes with that crap these days.

 

[lindros2]

Pretty great, IMO. I actually also have it in my e60 M5, but don't have any pictures on hand.

I've had two different versions in the M3.

First I went with a very stock looking head unit:

View attachment 2373964



Then I went in and filled all available head unit space with carplay:

View attachment 2373966



The button back lights on both is a pretty great match:

View attachment 2373971



... couldn't sell my wife on putting it in our e39 M5, which is her daily, because she doesn't want any aftermarket parts 😛

I'm working on selling her on this, which adds carplay to the stock 2001 M5 head unit:

Wireless CarPlay and AA on stock MKIV nav screen, including touch screen support! - NA M3 Forums

https://www.carphonics.co.uk/ibusappleplay.htm Can't believe I didn't see this until now! Retrains all original functionality, adds THE critical missing thing (at least, for me). Carphonics is a great company that has been solidly supporting the BMW (including e46/e39) community for years...

nam3forum.com

Wow - this is absolutely fabulous.
And reinforces some/many of our opinions on how critical and valuable CarPlay is.

 

[ric22]

Your car is probably not setup for or does not have wireless CarPlay. That uses wifi to transmit the data. You may be using Bluetooth for the phone connection and wired CarPlay for the rest. You might check if your car has wireless CarPlay support.

It doesn't have full wireless support, no, and like I said it must be using Bluetooth for the partial connection.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

When GM made their bone-headed announcement, Ford very quickly announced full support for CarPlay and Android Auto because their customers want choices. Not every manufacturer is ready to ignore their customers wishes.

This is completely wrong. EVERY manufacturer is willing to ignore their customers wishes when it comes down their bottom line. Just wait.

 

[Tagbert]

This is completely wrong. EVERY manufacturer is willing to ignore their customers wishes when it comes down their bottom line. Just wait.

There are different ways that manufacturers can make money from their customers. Some will use tracking methods or sell subscriptions. Others will focus more on making their vehicles more appealing. So far, only a handful of manufacturers have refused to integrate phone streaming. We’ll have to see how this turns out for GM. They have lost me as a customer and I already drive a GM vehicle.

 

[H2SO4]

Except every car comes with that crap these days.

They really don't. But I think we're done here.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

There are different ways that manufacturers can make money from their customers. Some will use tracking methods or sell subscriptions. Others will focus more on making their vehicles more appealing. So far, only a handful of manufacturers have refused to integrate phone streaming. We’ll have to see how this turns out for GM. They have lost me as a customer and I already drive a GM vehicle.

GM will miss your vehicle purchase every 8 years.

 

[Obioban]

GM will miss your vehicle purchase every 8 years.

Can't decide if this remark is sarcastic or not.

Car companies don't make any money if they don't sell cars-- off the car, or any services they're trying to push. Not buying their cars is the ONLY way to change their decision/make sure it doesn't spread.

 

[chachawpi]

All my cars have flawless wireless CarPlay, including my 2005 M5 (via aftermarket head unit).

I have a VW Golf which doesn't really support aftermarket head units. I could retrofit a system from a 2016 or newer car, but it isn't worth the cost or effort to me. I put my phone on a dashboard mount and just use Google Assistant to enter directions in Waze or to play music. It's good enough.

 

[Tagbert]

GM will miss your vehicle purchase every 8 years.

Making a sale costs money to bring in the customers from a marketing standpoint. The cheapest customer is one who already has your product. they are already predisposed. Car makers target existing owners of their vehicles for sales offers and the success rate is much better than for ”cold call” sales. If they are turning off their existing customers, that is a bad sign for sales.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Making a sale costs money to bring in the customers from a marketing standpoint. The cheapest customer is one who already has your product. they are already predisposed. Car makers target existing owners of their vehicles for sales offers and the success rate is much better than for ”cold call” sales. If they are turning off their existing customers, that is a bad sign for sales.

Not sure I buy into this fully. For every customer the lose they gain. We are talking about GM here. GM owns the market in large size SUVs and trucks. Not a lot of options out there outside of ford in those category’s. They will do just fine without apple car play customers.

 

[Obioban]

Not sure I buy into this fully. For every customer the lose they gain. We are talking about GM here. GM owns the market in large size SUVs and trucks. Not a lot of options out there outside of ford in those category’s. They will do just fine without apple car play customers.

That must be why they went bankrupt in 2009 🤔

 

[Tagbert]

That must be why they went bankrupt in 2009 🤔

That was not entirely GM’s fault. 2008 was the time of the Great Recession. Banks f’d up on speculative loans which crashed the banking system and the larger economy. The banks stopped issuing loans for anything for a while. That stopped car sales. Both GM and Chrysler were hit so hard by that, they were in danger of going bankrupt. Ford was lucky, they had just finished taking out a bunch of loans and even putting their logo up as collateral. The government was concerned that if GM and Chrysler went down, it would take down most of the parts suppliers including ones that supplied Ford. We could have lost all three car companies. That would have made the recession even worse and probably push the country into a full on depression. The government loaned GM and Chrysler enough cash to let them restructure and survive. The loans were eventually paid back. The point is that that bankruptcy wasn’t really a result of GM’s business, but mostly due to outside forces.

I’m not particularly fond of GM right now, but just wanted to clear up a little misconception that comes up now and then.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

That must be why they went bankrupt in 2009 🤔

Bro. Are you brining up something that happened 15 years ago? Laughable.

 

[Black Tiger]

Anyone else getting sick of these endless subscriptions?? And everybody trying to get into my wallet? Enough already.

 

[Black Tiger]

That was not entirely GM’s fault. 2008 was the time of the Great Recession. Banks f’d up on speculative loans which crashed the banking system and the larger economy. The banks stopped issuing loans for anything for a while. That stopped car sales. Both GM and Chrysler were hit so hard by that, they were in danger of going bankrupt. Ford was lucky, they had just finished taking out a bunch of loans and even putting their logo up as collateral. The government was concerned that if GM and Chrysler went down, it would take down most of the parts suppliers including ones that supplied Ford. We could have lost all three car companies. That would have made the recession even worse and probably push the country into a full on depression. The government loaned GM and Chrysler enough cash to let them restructure and survive. The loans were eventually paid back. The point is that that bankruptcy wasn’t really a result of GM’s business, but mostly due to outside forces.

I’m not particularly fond of GM right now, but just wanted to clear up a little misconception that comes up now and then.

A business model that relies on huge levels of consumer debt is definitely a dangerous place to be right now. That would be all car companies. The prices of vehicles is as at an all time ridiculous high.

 

[svish]

Disappointing to see GM not supporting CarPlay

 

[freediverx00]

Up until a couple of months ago, Apple was ostensibly working on its own car. It seems likely that issue factored into the decision of GM and others to develop future EV models with in-house dashboard entertainment and satnav systems. From their perspective, the idea of a rival car company having real-estate inside your vehicles may have seemed a bit too much. It’s be like Ford including prominent features made by Toyota. So, they may have thought, better to get something else in the pipeline.

With the Apple Car now apparently parked for good, that calculus will probably change. Including CarPlay as an option is now once again more akin to including Bose speakers as a feature. The problem at this point is that GM has already committed substantial resources and headed down a path to develop a system intended to compete directly with Apple, including dreams of revenue from subscription-based services. So now the question is whether they acknowledge that’s a bad idea before or after they bring their almost guaranteed-to-be-inferior in-house system to market.

I doubt it. GM‘s main motivation here is harvesting and selling user data and forcing customers to pay for new subscription services.

 

[freediverx00]

Google maps works just fine on Car Play. No idea why you’d stick with Apple Maps.

Privacy, user experience, aversion to advertising just to name a few.

 

[freediverx00]

So, based on DOJ (and EU) logic, does this mean that GM is 'forcing lock-in' on their customers? Should they be forced to 'open their walled garden' and allow other software systems to be used as well? Are they a 'gatekeeper' by virtue of their dominant position in the automotive software segment?

GM doesn’t have a dominant position in the auto market. None of the car makers do (although we seem to be headed in that direction). When we only have two car brands to choose from, then you can make that argument.

 

[freediverx00]

When choosing my last car, CarPlay integration was one of the main factors for the model I actually picked.
Instead of the rather reasonable “we want to control our customers experience” argument, GM is surprisingly forward with the reasons for dropping CarPlay: we want to sell our customers even more stuff, either through subscriptions or through the data we collect, so we remove the option to avoid that.
Why anyone would choose to buy into this is beyond me. There a plenty of alternatives to GM.

And fortunately, GM cars suck, so buying something else won’t be that difficult.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Another reason why GM's decision is such an abject failure for their customers:

Apple CarPlay Contributes to Higher Vehicle Satisfaction in Latest Survey

A new survey released last week by J.D. Power shows that U.S. consumers continue to prefer vehicles with support for Apple CarPlay. The market research firm's annual U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) Study found overall satisfaction with in-vehicle infotainment systems...

www.macrumors.com

 

[blcamp]

Another reason why GM's decision is a failure for their customers:

Apple CarPlay Contributes to Higher Vehicle Satisfaction in Latest Survey

A new survey released last week by J.D. Power shows that U.S. consumers continue to prefer vehicles with support for Apple CarPlay. The market research firm's annual U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) Study found overall satisfaction with in-vehicle infotainment systems...

www.macrumors.com

Even though CarPlay is arguably a “creature comfort” as far as options go, this will be an absolute requirement for me when it comes time for me to choose my next car. My current 2017 GMC Acadia has wired-only CarPlay support (and wireless adapters haven’t performed well), but I’ve experienced CarPlay enough to know it will be a must, going forward.

 

[H2SO4]

Even though CarPlay is arguably a “creature comfort” as far as options go, this will be an absolute requirement for me when it comes time for me to choose my next car. My current 2017 GMC Acadia has wired-only CarPlay support (and wireless adapters haven’t performed well), but I’ve experienced CarPlay enough to know it will be a must, going forward.

Maybe it's me but I'd take something like matrix headlights over CarPlay hands down.