These Apple CarPlay Ultra Partners Now Say They Won't Support It

[pascalro86]

European Hypocrisy at its Finest

Europe sues Apple under the DMA for offering too few options on iPhones - forcing them to open up to third-party app stores in the name of "consumer choice". But when Apple tries to bring a better, more unified experience to cars - where the software UX is still often clunky and fragmented - suddenly it's overreach"? Where are your antitrust principles now, Europe? Car manufacturers want to protect their own broken infotainment systems and revenue streams - and that’s allowed? This double standard is laughable.

 

[EugW]

I care because have you used the interfaces from these cars?

Have you used the most recent cars? My 2025 Toyota Camry has dual 12.3” screens, one for the instrument cluster and one for the infotainment system. The instrument cluster can be themed and adjusted for preference, and also incorporates now-playing audio titles and turn-by-turn navigation instructions from CarPlay. I like this setup way more than giving up control to gimmicky CarPlay Ultra. This way I get the reliability of Toyota’s design where it matters, and the CarPlay multimedia features for the second screen.

BTW, I have iOS 26 CarPlay already, and while an improvement over iOS 18 CarPlay, I’m not exactly inspired by it.

Does anyone really care? I don’t need my dashboard to be full on Apple, I just want to play my music and get directions.

Yup, see above.

 

[tomtad]

Wait what?! Polestar was on board a few weeks ago. What happened?

Polestar Still Plans to Offer CarPlay Ultra

Polestar remains committed to offering CarPlay Ultra in its future electric vehicles, a company spokesperson told MacRumors today. However, the brand...

www.macrumors.com

They realised it's a crapshoot

 

[JosephAW]

Does androids have an ultra CarPlay option as well, we wouldn’t want to lock people into just one phone ecosystem.

 

[ipedro]

"Don't try to invade our own systems."

Oh yes, car manufacturers, notable for systems that drivers absolutely love. 🙄

Look, I get their reticence. In-car subscription services are the next big wave of revenue for car manufacturers. It'll allow them to make their more premium vehicles accessible to a larger audience and then recoup the cost in ongoing revenue over the life of the car. Everyone wins. Apple should accommodate manufacturers on this, enabling a great experience for the users that's consistent with what they expect from their iPhones and then just step away and let the manufacturer have that relationship with the driver.

CarPlay's role isn't to generate revenue directly for Apple. Manufacturers aren't paying Apple and neither are drivers. It's there to solidify the ecosystem effect and give users a seamless experience from iPhone to Car. That sells more iPhones which is what Apple wants.

 

[bradman83]

Underrated post.
If I were a new manufacturer then I'd welcome Apple with open arms, let them handle all the UI / Nav / Music etc. For most users, we don't care.

Well the problem is that Apple's solution is still just projection software that requires an iPhone to work; manufacturers would still need to provide in-dash software so the car can work without an iPhone. So it's not like carmakers can just let Apple handle the UI/Nav/Music.

Android Automotive OS (which is completely different than the similarly named Android Auto) is just that - it's a full blown infotainment and dash OS that manufacturers can drop in and customize to the car, with or without Google's services added on. (Audi's new cars use AAOS but don't have Google's services tacked on, they use their own maps; GMs new cars use AAOS but do have Google services enabled - both support CarPlay save for GM's EV lineup).

Apple doesn't really offer anything to compete with that, and they haven't adapted their Android app offerings to run on AAOS.

 

[BuffaloTF]

CarPlay was an answer to a problem that simply no longer exists. Between Tesla and all the Android Automotive deployments, led by Rivian’s heavily customized version, have been better for a long time. Give it up. Screen mirroring was a band aid solution, and native built with the same functionality will always win.

 

[Palindrom]

"revenue streams from in-car services"
This alone tells us enough that is not about the user experience.
When will these greedy companies realize people are sick and tired of being robbed by subscription "services"?
Meanwhile, so many of these automakers are happy to sign up with Google Automotive Service. 🥲

100%... this tells me everything I really need to know about the manufactures.

So you think apples solution would be free?
How many apple services are you already paying for ?

I like that the manufactures stay their ground and won’t let apple in.

All manufactures have their own style- better keep that instead of going the one fits all route.

Nah **** that, I’m not buying their cars then.

Go buy an Aston Martin then. Nobody holds you back

 

[jmet]

Apple needs to stop spreading itself thin and focus on fewer things that are stronger.

If I was a car manufacturer, I would be looking at CarPlay and questioning how often Apple would even update it.

Most car manufactures could not care less about that, they themselves rarely do so and drop updates a year or less after release of a car.

 

[supremedesigner]

Just FYI, Fortnite and Spotify have both tried to take on Apple for antitrust issues in the past. Can't Apple do the same thing by targeting car manufacturers for a monopoly on dashboard systems? Food for thought...

 

[stevemiller]

given my own experience with apple software quality anymore, i'm going to call this a win.

 

[mushy peas]

Wait what?! Polestar was on board a few weeks ago. What happened?

The article quotes the Volvo CEO, but I don’t think he speaks for Polestar anymore. So I think perhaps the article has conflated the two when it shouldn’t have.

I know why some of them are resistant, they’re watching GM completely ditch CarPlay and Android

Not here in Australia. So they’ll use it when it suits them, not that they’ll sell many cars here whatever they do.

 

[TimeWomble]

I care because have you used the interfaces from these cars? Also, the Apple would be able to add themes/new items as long as you have an iPhone vs. the carmaker not doing anything.

I get carmakers don't want to give up control though - but their behavior won't benefit the customer in this scenario.

The Apple Developer videos about CarPlay Ultra are primarily targeted at Auto Manufacturers, who have a huge degree of control over the UI (which widgets go where, on which screen, and with what styling and colours). However, it's less clear to me how much control the actual end-user will have; I strongly suspect that Manufacturers will be reluctant to let drivers have that much control. If a manufacturer has carefully coloured the gauges to match the colours of the upholstery and trim then I doubt they'll be happy to let users change it.

What would be interesting is if the USA, EU, etc. started to mandate that drivers should be able to have that degree of control over their dash. On the contrary, it seems probable that there would be regulatory restrictions governing what needs to be displayed where, with what legibility, contrast, etc. (although possibly less so in the USA, with the bonfire of agencies and regulations currently underway).

 

[Zdigital2015]

“One executive at Renault, which is developing a vehicle mainly controlled by software with Google and Qualcomm, said the French carmaker told Apple: "Don't try to invade our own systems."

Hmm…but Google is a liberator of their systems? Pretty sure Google just gave you a crap ton of money and mega development help to get in the door, but that’s just me being super cynical.

 

[surferfb]

Time for the EU to come in and force the car companies to offer CarPlay! What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right? And the EU is all about promoting competition, right? I paid for the car, I should be able to run whatever software I want on it, right?

Or is it just "gatekeeping" when American companies do it?

 

[nicolhac]

Have you noticed how manufacturers are losing their unique selling points with this new feature? It’s a bit of a mixed bag, I think. On one hand, it gives each car a personalized experience, which is cool. But on the other hand, it makes cars feel like they’re just another gadget, like your phone. And I wonder if Apple’s “green” environment stance is just a facade, or if they’re actually trying to make cars more replaceable. What do you think?

 

[0815]

I have enough trouble with CarPlay that I wouldn't want the car to depend on it.

Your car still would not depend on it ... its an option, its a your choice if you want to use it.

Car manufacturers UI mostly suck, and I like the Apple UIs ... so I would CHOOSE to use it, but if you don't Apple UI, then you can CHOOSE to use the manufacture UI ... nobody is forcing you to use Apple UI. It's a personal preference. I like both the Apple UI and that the car manufacture does not get any data from me that they might sell.

 

[FSMBP]

your examples are pretty bad if you expect people to want to shell out extra money so they can change their carplay theme and send emoji's from the dashboard. comon man!

I didn't give examples...Here are examples:

• "Hey Siri - set up Easy Listening"...It can cue up my easy listening playlist and darken my cars' theme, and route me home as an automation.
• I can setup a clean/bare 'dashboard' if I want. My wife could setup a UI with compass/Nav/metrics etc...
• Plus any car you go into, it can be familiar because you're using your phone. No need to relearn anything with rentals/etc.

Not sure what you have against options? where di you get out 'shell out extra money' from lol.

 

[jimmirehman]

Automakers continue to conform to a dying business model. They can’t write good software to save their companies. Build the car and let Google and Apple handle the UX.

 

[0815]

It makes no sense that Audi would back out if Porsche is still doing it. They're both part of VW.

Maybe they see it as a small experiment with a small group of people to see how it works out?

 

[PieVsCake]

To be honest, I really just want CarPlay to manage my media and infotainment in my vehicle. I don't need siri to tell me my left front tire is 3 pounds under inflated or that I only have 30 miles until I'm out of gas. CarPlay for me is a way to bridge the services provided by my phone to a manageable experience while I drive. Anything else is counterproductive and a technical support nightmare.

I don't want to worry about my cars basic functions not working because Apple and my car manufacturer flub a security update. I also don't want to have to worry about the guaranteed ping pong of "thats not us thats them" support finger pointing that will ensue from such integration.

That being said, car manufacturers need to wake up and understand that consumers like tech in their vehicles and we DONT want to pay a service fee to get it. I recently purchased a 2021 vehicle and, on a whim, decided to look into what it would take to update the onboard nav maps. Ford wanted to charge me almost $200 to download the "latest" maps update. This is why people want CarPlay in their vehicles. Most of us would settle for the built-in infotainment system in cars if they had decent media connectivity to our phones and maps that updated on a regular fee free.

 

[Anaxarxes]

I'm sure the fact that Carplay Ultra not supporting Android Auto is the dealbreaker for most car companies.

Unless Apple opens the CarPlay Ultra, it'll only be interesting to ultra luxury brands who have limited capability for infotaintment systems.

 

[dongwoo8363]

Mercedes has like terrible UI design and telling Apple ‘Don’t try to invade our system’ 😭😭😭😭

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Future Aston Martin owner I guess. Or else a Kia.

For sure Kia.

 

[ThisIsMike]

You know what would solve this issue? An Apple car. And I guarantee Apple will come back around to it in time. (“In time” might mean post-Tim Cook.) This is the same problem they would have had if they never made their own phone. As fully self-driving gradually takes hold, there will eventually be people with a lot of downtime in their cars, and Apple isn’t going to cede that experience - and that time - to Tesla, Google, and others.

If Xiaomi can do it, so can Apple. And they will. So if we’re all around, come back to this post in 2030, and let’s see if I’m not right. 😀