Apple misses deadline for next-gen CarPlay with no new timeline in sight

[Skye Jacobs]

TL;DR: It's official, Apple's next-generation CarPlay is late. The delay is a rare miss for Cupertino, a company known for meeting its self-imposed deadlines and its highly predictable product cycles. The tech giant has quietly updated its website, removing all references to the supposed 2024 launch date, effectively acknowledging the pushback.

Apple seems to remain committed to the project despite the delay, emphasizing ongoing collaboration with multiple automakers. "We continue to work closely with several automakers, enabling them to showcase their unique brand and visual design philosophies in the next generation of CarPlay," the company said in a statement to MacRumors.

The next-generation CarPlay, first unveiled at WWDC 2022, promises a significant overhaul of the in-car experience. It's designed to integrate with a vehicle's instrument cluster, providing information on speed, climate control, and other car data directly through the CarPlay interface. Users will be able to control various vehicle functions, including radio and temperature, directly from the interface.

While Apple has not provided a new timeline for the release, there are indications that development is progressing. References to the next-gen CarPlay were recently found in the iOS 18.3 beta, and new visuals of the system have been submitted to a European database.

Previously, Apple had announced partnerships with several car manufacturers, including Acura, Audi, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, and Volvo. In December 2023, Aston Martin and Porsche previewed their next-generation CarPlay designs, though neither has delivered a product to market.

Meanwhile, some manufacturers like General Motors and Rivian have opted out of CarPlay integration, preferring to maintain control over their own automotive systems. However, Apple maintains that its current CarPlay platform is available in over 98 percent of new cars sold in the U.S. over the past few years.

Apple's next-generation CarPlay promises to offer what the company calls "the best of iPhone and the best of your car." The system will allow drivers to personalize their experience, with customizable gauge cluster designs and layouts, including brand-specific options that reflect each automaker's style.

Vehicle controls will see significant enhancements as well. For example, the adaptive cruise control feature will display a visual band in the instrument cluster, indicating the vehicle's proximity to the set speed. Other design elements will include color-coded fuel and temperature gauges, with red indicators providing warnings for low fuel or high engine temperatures. Moreover, the instrument cluster will showcase not only essential vehicle data but also real-time information such as dynamic maps and daily schedules.

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Apple misses deadline for next-gen CarPlay with no new timeline in sight

 

[ZedRM]

Apple, just cancel it, no one cares or is going to care. Let it go..

 

[RudyBob]

I see very bad car accidents in videos. Dashboards are meant to convey essential data about the car, some related to safety. The amount of data available without the touch of a button is staggering. When you start pushing that button to change and alter data conditions are created that pulls attention away from driving at speeds the driver has no reaction time for. This is to much. They will sell a million

 

[kiwigraeme]

I see very bad car accidents in videos. Dashboards are meant to convey essential data about the car, some related to safety. The amount of data available without the touch of a button is staggering. When you start pushing that button to change and alter data conditions are created that pulls attention away from driving at speeds the driver has no reaction time for. This is to much. They will sell a million

Never driven in such a car , but all the crap in your peripheral vision must be a distraction , especially if they use known attention seeking behaviour people have used to survive from danger, prey find gleaming gemstones or whatever - ie humans are very sensitive to certain optical inputs from peripheral vision for survival etc like fast movement

There definitely is a middle ground or better way ie like fighter jets , posh cars have HUD info display on windscreen, and again very good AI can determine what is important - could also just announce it on the car speakers "Bridge Out go to fly mode " or whatever

 

[Burty117]

I'm not sure I'd want my Apple Car Play to display stuff like my Speed, I still don't think Apple Car Play or Android Auto are reliable enough as it is for such important tasks. I've had freezes on both iPhone and Pixel phones, in various cars (Audi, Suzuki, Mazda, VW, Mercedes), if they can't get it reliable enough as it is now, I don't know why they're pushing ahead on making it display overly important things like speed, cruise control settings, fuel and tempurature gauges etc...

 

[manowar51]

For me carplay made driving a lot safer. Before carplay I used to aux in my mobile phone which was held on some rickety phone mount on one of the air vents. Now I just speak to my car for what I want it to do, I used to have to navigate my mobile phone with one eye on the road. I dont even take my phone out of my pocket now, I press the ignition and it's all there on the screen.

I dont mind it taking over the speedo and tachometer. I have a feeling the people who create UX at Apple know a thing a too more than the average car manufacturer. It depends. I quite like the BMW one but the Toyota one sucks lol.

 

[ZedRM]

For me carplay made driving a lot safer. Before carplay I used to aux in my mobile phone which was held on some rickety phone mount on one of the air vents. Now I just speak to my car for what I want it to do, I used to have to navigate my mobile phone with one eye on the road. I dont even take my phone out of my pocket now, I press the ignition and it's all there on the screen.

You don't need car-play for any of that. connect your phone via bluetooth and you have all the same functionality.

I dont mind it taking over the speedo and tachometer.

That is illegal in many places and for good reason.

 

[netman]

"Apple's next-generation CarPlay promises to offer what the company calls "the best of iPhone and the best of your car." The system will allow drivers to personalize their experience, with customizable gauge cluster designs and layouts, including brand-specific options that reflect each automaker's style."

Apple should quit this project as it only create confusion and distraction...!

 

[manowar51]

You don't need car-play for any of that. connect your phone via bluetooth and you have all the same functionality.


That is illegal in many places and for good reason.

You are talking nonsense. You really dont get the same experience with a bluetooth connection than you do with carplay. Carplay is so much better than anything any car maker has ever come up with.

Also im calling you out on digital dashboards being illegal in cars. They arent illegal in the USA. Can you tell me the countries that have outlawed this please?

 

[ZedRM]

You are talking nonsense. You really dont get the same experience with a bluetooth connection than you do with carplay. Carplay is so much better than anything any car maker has ever come up with.

I get but one of the things you mentioned on my Android phone. So yes, I know what I'm talking about.

Also im calling you out on digital dashboards being illegal in cars.

I didn't say digital dashboards were illegal. You said the following,

I dont mind it taking over the speedo and tachometer.

Which is VERY illegal in North America. No one is allowed to obscure the Speedometer from the drivers view, at any time or for any reason. The tach is optional, the speedometer is not.