CarPlay Ultra: Auto manufacturers obviously don’t go on it

For Apple it was the next logical step three years ago: CarPlay, the interface of the iPhone to the car’s infotainment system, was a great success and is very much in demand for car owners. In Cupertino, it was therefore imagined to spread on the entire dashboard and also offer the Apple experience there. But how do the car manufacturers find that? Apparently not as good as hoped for by Apple, as a new report now shows.

The next generation of CarPlay, which has now been baptized by CarPlay Ultra, apparently encounters little love, there reports the Financial Times Citing sources in the automotive industry. The German luxury brands Mercedes-Benz and Audi as well as Volvo Cars, Polestar and Renault would have announced not to integrate the extended software system into their vehicles-although Apple 2022 had called these manufacturers as future CarPlay Ultra users.

Jaguar Land Rover explained to check the system even more precisely. Ford and Nissan with the Infiniti brand explained that they had nothing to announce at the moment, even though they were also named in Apple presentations as names.

So far only Aston Martin

So far, only Aston Martin has been the first automobile manufacturer CarPlay Ultra to integrate into his vehicles. This follows Apple’s proven strategy of using premium brands as a door opener-Ferrari was the first CarPlay partner in 2014. Hyundai with its brands Kia and Genesis has also known for the integration of the expanded system, although they were not one of the 14 brands originally mentioned by Apple. Apple emphasized the Financial Times that other automobile manufacturers should follow. According to the report, Porsche chief designer Michael Mauer confirmed plans to integrate CarPlay Ultra into future models.

With skepticism among the car manufacturers, it may also be explained why the development of CarPlay Ultra repeatedly fell silent after the announcement. CarPlay Ultra goes well beyond the previous integration. While the classic car play mainly transmits music and navigation from the iPhone, the ultra version accesses further vehicle information-from temperature displays to speed to fuel consumption.

Why the car manufacturers are skeptical

Analysts say that Apple’s system, which brings the vehicles of different brands closer together in terms of software, are in a contradiction to ambitions of the car manufacturers who want to differ more from one another by software. These are of the opinion that software plays a more important role and therefore did not want to make themselves dependent on Apple.

Of course, Apple can still hope that – as with the first car play – the car buyers ensure that the car manufacturers see the customer in the end to support CarPlay Ultra. In the meantime, for Apple, its previous car play is likely to increase again. With iOS 26, this is to be expanded with the display of widgets.