The new and more integrated version of Apple’s in-car connectivity system, first announced in 2022, has been revealed this week as CarPlay Ultra.
When I first wrote about this evolved version of CarPlay back in 2022, it seemed likely we’d see it roll out to various new cars within a year or two.
In fact, Apple confirmed over a dozen partners: Ford, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Honda, Acura, Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi, Nissan, Renault, Volvo, Polestar and Porsche.
Three years later, we’re down to one brand and a much tamer result. For now, CarPlay Ultra will be exclusive to Aston Martin, and the first official images and video show just how far the system’s tentacles will reach into the car’s systems.
Where previously Apple had suggested we could soon see its platform reach across a car’s entire dash, what we get now is more integrated system controls in the centre display, and a driver display now completely taken over by CarPlay.
It’s a significant step back from what was promised in 2022, and it’s not as though we’re short on cars with screens that span the length of the dash.
Rather, it seems most brands now consider infotainment to be a critical part of their identity, and as the images here show, CarPlay Ultra is very much Apple’s identity.
As the 2022 concept video above shows, CarPlay’s evolution was always going to retain and prioritise Apple’s style over the manufacturer’s – which is likely why we haven’t seen it roll out widely yet – but it was at least conceived to be a more impressive leap in overall capability.
Of course, ‘impressive leap’ depends on whether you’re impressed by 50-or-so inches of display in a machine that definitely shouldn’t be offering you any distractions while driving…
Unlike the entirely localised current version, the new CarPlay Ultra system allows for fully Apple-styled speedometers, navigation views, media playback information, and app-integrated widgets to take the place of factory interfaces.
Drivers can display navigation through Apple Maps or Google Maps in the centre or behind the wheel, alongside iPhone-fed details like calendar appointments, weather, and messages.
For the first time, CarPlay Ultra also integrates vehicle-specific readouts including tyre pressure, fuel or battery range, and driver assistance status. These features are presented through UI themes claimed to be co-developed with Aston Martin, but it’s hard to say there’s any real Aston influence in these aesthetics.
Physical vehicle controls, touch inputs, and voice interaction via Siri are all supported for system functions like media playback, temperature control, and audio settings.
It’s all very Android Automotive Operating System (AAOS), which has been driving the entire infotainment systems of cars from Polestar, Volvo, Renault and BMW for a few years now, among others. (AAOS is the more advanced, fully integrated version of Android Auto, which is normally just mirrored from your phone.)
However, unlike CarPlay Ultra, brands using AAOS are allowed to ‘skin’ the interface to whatever extent they like, ensuring it retains the look they want. Think of how different a Samsung phone’s interface looks compared to Google’s Pixel phones, despite both being built upon Android.
CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or newer. It’ll hit compatible Aston Martin cars through a software update in the coming weeks, while newly built vehicles will have CarPlay Ultra already onboard.
Apple has confirmed the system will roll out to other markets beyond North America over the next year, but no further brand partners have been named at this stage. Porsche was supposed to be one, but they’ve gone quiet.
Apple has not said how the latest Siri features, including ChatGPT integration, will function within CarPlay Ultra. However, the company claims the same privacy protections enforced on iOS will apply within the vehicle environment.
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