“Over the last week, I drove the closest thing we have to an Apple Car right now: a 2016 Chevy Malibu equipped with support for Apple CarPlay,” Jason Cipriani writes for Fortune. “Yet you could easily replace the make and model with any vehicle that supports CarPlay. A complete list of car manufacturers offering CarPlay compatible models can be found online.”
“This was my first experience with CarPlay, or for that matter, any sort of system designed to duplicate smartphone’s capabilities inside a car. I went into this experience unsure of what to expect, and I came out of it rather surprised by the overall experience,” Cipriani writes. “Initial setup was a breeze. Using my iPhone’s Lightning cable, I connected my smartphone to the Malibu. A prompt asked me to unlock my iPhone and grant the Malibu permission to access my device using CarPlay. This was a one-time setup process with future connections requiring that I simply connect my iPhone to the Lightning cable to begin using CarPlay. With CarPlay activated, a familiar but limited grid of app icons displayed on the screen. Phone, Messages, Maps, Music, Podcasts, Now Playing, and Audiobooks populated first followed by MLB’s At Bat app.”
“Using Apple’s own apps will provide a nearly identical experience to those found on your iPhone, albeit a more simplified version,” Cipriani writes. “In Messages, for example, immediately after tapping on the icon, Siri asks for the message recipient. After stating a name, Siri asks for the message body before the virtual assistant reads the text back for accuracy. Once done, Siri sends the message—all without you having to take your eyes off the road. Placing a phone call follows a similar process.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Note to luxury vehicle makers: If you don’t have Apple’s CarPlay, you’re doomed.
Note to peddlers of poorly-made cheapo tin cans: Make sure you include Android Auto for the rabble.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s CarPlay vs. Android Auto – January 25, 2016
Ars Technica: One week with Apple’s CarPlay – January 22, 2016
Apple blocked Volkswagen from demonstrating wireless CarPlay at CES – January 8, 2016
Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep to offer Apple’s CarPlay in vehicles – January 4, 2016
Toyota, QNX, others adopt Ford’s SmartDeviceLink platform – January 4, 2016
Which Mercedes-Benz vehicles will have Apple’s CarPlay in 2016 – December 14, 2015
Apple’s CarPlay attracting vehicle buyers GM dealers say – December 14, 2015
The Verge reviews Apple’s CarPlay: ‘Miles better than your car’s interface’ – September 4, 2015
WSJ reviews Apple CarPlay: Siri’s finally on the right road – August 18, 2015
Hands on with Apple’s CarPlay in the new Corvette – August 10, 2015
2016 Honda Accord delivers Apple CarPlay – July 24, 2015
GM to roll out Apple’s CarPlay across 14 Chevy models this year – May 27, 2015
Apple’s CarPlay success shows the power of having a long-term strategy – March 15, 2015
Apple’s real CarPlay: Cupertino doesn’t need to build cars in order to reinvent driving – February 28, 2015
Ford drops reputation-scorching Microsoft Sync, enables support for Apple’s sought-after CarPlay – December 12, 2014
Apple’s CarPlay looks like the future of in-car infotainment – April 13, 2014
Unfortunately, by the time CarPlay is widespread (read; many years), the next big thing will have arrived from Apple already.
That does not sound quite so unfortunate. The next big thing from Apple? Bring it on!
CarPlay will spread quickly, especially in the U.S. given the market penetration of iPhones.
Car makers are like the IT Doofus community. They simply do not want to let Apple into the car. They are so delusional that they think their electronics are better.
Other than GM, VW, and Mercedes, cars with CarPlay are very hard to find. You want CarPlay in a popular Honda Civic, it is only available in one model. You like Ford, you only get CarPlay with the Escape. Acura only equips its sports car with CarPlay. And Lexus or Toyota give us Apple fans a big FU.
These fools need to realize that potential buyers like me are keeping our wallets in our pockets until a car we like has CarPlay. I’ll just keep driving my 5-speed 06 Civic Coupe until the Apple Car comes out.
I was in the dealership and test-drove the new version of my ’08 car while it was being serviced, but made it clear in no uncertain terms that they weren’t getting a sale until Carplay is built-in (not that I’m in the market at the moment anyway, my ’08 is still running fine, though missing all the latest electronic goodies)
It is insane not to give your customers choices. And especially the choices for the options that are important to them.
I had to pay a fairly hefty sum to get the the Toyota Navigation/GPS module in my 2007 Prius. Too bad it totally sucks compared with my iPhone.
I’ve decided I will not pay an outrageous premium for a crappy car manufacturer’s Navigation/GPS system (and whatever other bells & whistles are available, like messaging) in my next car. If they don’t offer Apple CarPlay, I will probably just use my iPhone or an iPad.
So there!
If getting Apple CarPlay means buying anything from Gubmint Motors, no thank you.
The story of the GM bailout costing us nothing is a big lie. Between Delphi (GM parts and components) Ally Bank (GMAC), the ‘New GM’ (the current operating company and the old GM (renamed and liquidated) and the unfounded pensions and liabilities dumped on the taxpayer, GM owes every taxpayer (the kind that actually pay in) an apology and a new GM Car or Truck.
I would take mine down to the nearest stealership and trade it in for anything else.
At the rate GM is pumping sales on subprime car loans, we will be bailing them out again.
I used to work for GM. My father used to work at Ford.
To whatever you think you are referring, get it through your head: there is no such company as Gubmint Motors. Federally underwritten loans have been paid back.
Perhaps you should inform yourself as to what really went down:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/12/blue-ops-the-clandestine-bailout-of-ford/
https://www.cars.com/articles/2010/12/report-ford-took-federal-funds-too/
You should also know that the corporate welfare extended to automakers went primarily to their internal credit agencies. Moreover, the total amount of taxpayer money spent in the automotive bailouts was a pittance compared to the insane amount of money that was extended to banks and mortgage companies that, inexplicably, Americans continue to do business with. You really should take out your misplaced frustrations on the Wall Street crooks who pocketed your cash, not the Detroit auto worker who — no matter what position of the company he worked in — has seen his benefits slashed, compensation tamped down, and his home values decimated. All the while Detroit is releasing world-class cars that are better by far than they have ever been.
If you live in the real world, you need to set aside your biased opinions and make your product selections based on honest objective evaluations, not brand snobbery. That goes for Apple products as well. If Apple was to release a car that didn’t serve my needs or provide competitive value or unique performance that cannot be had elsewhere, then I will not buy it or endorse it.
For the record, this household has German and Japanese vehicles in the stable now. The next one will most likely be German or American — not for patriotic reasons, but for practical honest personal valuation reasons.
I suggest you speak with an autoworker personally to understand what he’s done these last 6 years before badmouthing his company with such disrespect.
I think that it’s you who don’t get it. You shouldn’t take these comments personally. No one in their right mind is blaming the good people who work/worked for GM and other auto manufacturers. The fact is that these companies engaged in practices that were careless at best, and potentially illegal at worst. They took us all for a ride.
GM – the new legal entity- paid back the startup loans, but the old GM cost the taxpayer and will never be paid back. Chrysler was bailed out and essentially given to Fiat. It would have been cheaper to shut them down and retrain the displaced workers.
We would have been better served if they had been dissolved in bankruptcy. America would be a far better place without Crapillacs, Crapolets and Chinese Buicks.
The whole auto industry has not learned it’s lesson and is setting up the next big crash. Inventories of new cars are higher than any time since before the Bush Depression, massive numbers of subsidized leases are coming on line this year to push prices down, sub-prime auto loans are at an all time high, and Detroit has again become dependent upon overpriced gas guzzling pickups and SUVs.
Send me a picture from the unemployment line when gas returns to it’s market norm and the credit bubble keeps Billy Bob from buying another $60,000 Chevy Pickup.
Does the iPhone have to be connected with a cable? I assumed that it would be through a Bluetooth link, like my current car has. It automatically connects when I enter the car and start it, although I can only control the volume and go back and forth through the songs, and must access other things with the phone.