Apple’s next step for CarPlay is a version you’ll only get to try if you’re a fan of luxury cruisers or a popular spy film franchise. CarPlay Ultra, with its new suite of exclusive features like custom gauges, is coming first to Aston Martin vehicles with the largest, most blaring dash screens. The more advanced version of CarPlay won’t necessarily fix the lingering issues the software has with some modern vehicles. Segmenting CarPlay into newer and older systems may make things worse for those with aging cars.
Apple’s CarPlay Ultra includes a new kind of dashboard alongside real-time information that can include car diagnostics—like tire pressure—or dashboard gauges. You should be able to control temperature and other car-based features as well. The new version of the software includes options for dashboards or console screens, and it will work with on-screen controls, Siri, and “physical buttons.”
CarPlay Ultra was supposed to launch in 2024, but Apple missed its release date by close to half a year. The new feature suite was first revealed at WWDC in 2022, where Apple promised a “unified and consistent” suite of informational dashboards offering more control over radio and AC “without ever leaving the CarPlay experience.” Last year, Apple showed off “the next generation” of its car-focused app that included custom gauges and other layouts made for a variety of automakers. It lacked much of the full-width, busy design of the initial iteration from two years prior.
Developing car software isn’t an easy task. Apple itself struggled and eventually decided to quit making its own car, even though it could control every aspect of its design. The tech giant has mentioned issues with developing software for such a wide range of vehicles sporting different screen sizes and supporting electronics. To entice more manufacturers, CarPlay Ultra is supposed to adapt to multiple screen sizes thanks to a modular layout system with more options for companies to adhere to their own brand identity. Apple promised carmakers they could resize and reorient gauges on a dashboard like you do widgets on your iPhone.
Users can change up various gauges on the dash and bring up apps like Apple Music or Maps in between your temperature gauge and speedometer. Aston Martin showed off these features on an Aston Martin DBX, a luxury SUV that costs more than $250,000. Apple said these features should be coming to the U.S. and Canada first, with more Aston Martins getting these features through software updates from local dealerships. Apple said its still trying to bring these features to brands like Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. Maybe we’ll see Ultra on a vehicle regular folk can afford.
Both CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto have long suffered from issues ranging from dropped connections to slow speeds with some phones connected to supporting vehicles. Some brands would prefer something they could break themselves. GM promised to nix CarPlay on future vehicles—especially EVs—in 2023. Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius told The Verge last year the company would eschew CarPlay in place of a “holistic customer experience” that would be built with Google Maps in mind, though that doesn’t necessarily mean using Android Auto, either.
The customizable dashboards are a way for Apple to let each carmaker have their say in how their vehicles look, but they won’t help all those who are stuck with regular CarPlay on their aging beaters. The new version will inevitably create a distinction between those with new software and others with legacy software. Apple is normally very good at supporting older hardware, but it will be stymied by having to work with so many brands at once, all while making sure cars can keep receiving new updates as vehicles age.
Even beyond the lingering issues of CarPlay and Android Auto, car buyers are less enthused by screen-filled vehicles than they were in the past. Recent surveys showed drivers don’t want a full-width infotainment display in their cars. Touchscreens that replace the dash, center console, and even the typical knobs and dials for heating controls don’t make using the car any easier, and adding more screens doesn’t make driving any safer.
Read the full article here
