New ‘next-gen’ Apple CarPlay upgrade for your car revealed – and the British brand showing it off first
APPLE has revealed its next-gen CarPlay is coming in 2024 – with custom designs for your exact car model.
The upgrade was teased earlier this year, but will soon roll out to create a sci-fi interior for your motor.
Apple CarPlay is a free service that lets you turn your car’s infotainment system into an iPhone-style design.
Almost all new cars now support Apple CarPlay, giving you instant access to apps like Phone, Music, Maps and Messages in your car.
And it also includes your contacts, content and preferences without any extra fiddling.
Now a new next-gen version of CarPlay (with custom brand designs) is expected to land in 2024 on Aston Martin cars, with Porsche to follow suit later.
What’s new in next-gen CarPlay?
Next-gen CarPlay is designed to go far beyond just the single screen in a car’s central console.
Many cars have more than one display – as well as an instrument cluster – and CarPlay can take over all of them.
It can also engage directly with the car’s core systems.
So for a start, the instrument cluster can become entirely digital and linked to CarPlay.
This means you’ll see your car’s speed, the engine’s RPM, fuel levels and even temperature.
Not only that but you’ll even be able to tune the car’s radio and change your cabin temperature without leaving the CarPlay experience.
Apple won’t see any of this car data either, so you don’t have to worry about Silicon Valley monitoring your car’s speed – or how you’re using the A/C.
iCustomised!
When the new CarPlay was revealed in 2023, it was shown with a stunning – but generic – design.
Now Apple has revealed that it has been working with car-makers to create custom designs for specific models.
Car giants will be able to show off their brand qualities and styling through unique CarPlay visuals.
Quote from Apple, attributed to Alan Dye, Apple’s vice president of Human Interface Design
“With the next generation of CarPlay, we partnered with automakers to design an entirely new, unified experience that enables the very best of Apple and each particular automaker,” Apple’s design VP Alan Dye said.
“It is a blend of a user’s personal experience of iPhone paired with a celebration of the strong brand identity of each automaker.”
For instance, they’ll be able to choose different options, sizes, colours and configurations for gauges.
And there’ll be options to account for regional differences like right- and left-hand drive, as well as different shaped displays.
Carmakers will even be able to adjust their CarPlay configurations for looking through different shapes of steering wheels.
They’ll be able to add widgets to the instrument cluster – like an Apple Maps display – and choose their own fonts too.
So it should make your CarPlay feel much more personal to the model you’ve chucked down some cash on.
That’s versus the current system where all cars have roughly the same CarPlay design.
British car titan Aston Martin is one of the first to sign up to show off the new CarPlay.
“At Aston Martin we strive for excellence and performance and this was the key reason we chose to partner with Apple on the next generation of CarPlay,” said Aston Martin brand chief Maro Mattiacci.
“The integration of the latest state-of-the-art technology combined with a bespoke intuitive interface is paramount to creating the ultimate Aston Martin customer experience.”
It’s unclear exactly which car models will feature the new CarPlay, however.
Porsche also confirmed that it would be rolling out a customised version of CarPlay.
The German racing giant said that it would offer a familiar and sporty design.
“In addition to the sports car itself, digital offerings that are perfectly tailored to our customers are becoming increasingly important to the overall driving experience,” said Porsche’s Style VP Michael Mauer.
“We recently brought the My Porsche app to CarPlay to provide drivers with even easier access to car functionality, and in the future we will be adding support for the next generation of CarPlay to Porsche models.”