Apple made a quiet update to its website to say just how dominant CarPlay is. Maybe Tim Cook wants GM to reconsider.
At the end of March, General Motors revealed that it would be abandoning support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles. Instead, the company would be opting into using a built-in infotainment system from Google. The move lines GM up with other electric vehicle companies like Tesla and Rivian, who have opted for their own software experiences rather than adopting the popular in-car experiences from Apple and Google.
While GM has revealed its intentions to leave, Apple seems to be quietly hinting that it might not be such a good idea. Spotted by MacRumors, Apple has updated its CarPlay page, revealing that over 200 more vehicles now support the in-car experience. That brings the total of supported vehicles to over 800, according to Apple’s website. The increase is reportedly due to a ton of 2023 and 2024 vehicles being added to the list.
While GM may still be planning to leave CarPlay in the past, other automakers have already confirmed their intention to stick around. Ford, which is GM’s biggest domestic competitor in the United States, has already publicly confirmed that it plans to continue to offer CarPlay support in its electric vehicles.
“We continue to offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto because customers love the capability that enables easy access and control of their smartphone apps – especially our EV customers because some EVs currently do not offer the features.”
Even Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, which has never supported CarPlay, revealed that the company could add the feature in the future if there is enough consumer demand.
It’ll be interesting to see if any other companies announce an intention to leave CarPlay support behind, especially considering that Apple is looking to roll out a next-generation experience in future vehicles that take over more than just the infotainment experience.
