Apple’s next-generation version of its popular CarPlay infotainment software is finally launching three years after it was announced.
The company said Thursday that this new version of CarPlay — now known as “CarPlay Ultra” — will start rolling out on new Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, roughly half a year late.
While still powered (wirelessly) by an iPhone, CarPlay Ultra takes over both the main infotainment screen as well as the digital dashboard in front of the driver, and is more deeply integrated with the vehicle’s systems. That means the new CarPlay software will display things like the vehicle’s speed, fuel mileage, trip info, and water temperature.
CarPlay Ultra will also be able to control certain vehicle settings — provided drivers have an iPhone 12 or later running at least iOS 18.5. Meanwhile, certain functions like backup cameras will still be able to “punch through” the CarPlay UI.
Apple said some existing and compatible Aston Martin vehicles will get CarPlay Ultra “in the coming weeks through a software update available at local dealers.” The company also said the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands have signed up to make it compatible in their vehicles.
The launch of CarPlay Ultra helps Apple even the playing field with Google, which for years now has helped automakers ship cars with an embedded version of its Android Auto operating system. Just this week, Google announced it was bringing its generative AI Gemini to Android Auto.
Apple has implied that the slow rollout of CarPlay Ultra was, in part, related to the work required to make the software fit the “unique brand and visual design philosophies” of its partner automakers. The company said in its press release Thursday that it has crafted these “custom themes” in “close collaboration” with the design team of automakers like Aston Martin. It also said drivers will be able to customize the “colors and wallpapers of themes to match their individual tastes.”
It’s an ambitious leap forward from the basic version of CarPlay, which has proven so popular that an uproar starts pretty much any time an automaker shuns the software.
But the rollout is still a far cry from what Apple originally teased at its 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference, when it showed a slide with 14 automaker logos and said those brands were “excited to bring this new vision of CarPlay to customers.” At least one of those, Mercedes-Benz, has since said it won’t use the new CarPlay Ultra.
