Ford CEO Jim Farley said he is taking a wait-and-see approach about whether to authorize Apple’s CarPlay Ultra in Ford’s vehicles, claiming that he wasn’t that impressed with the first iteration of CarPlay Ultra.
CarPlay Ultra, the next generation of CarPlay, began rolling out in May and is available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. CarPlay Ultra builds on the capabilities of CarPlay and provides the ultimate in-car experience by deeply integrating with the vehicle to deliver the best of iPhone and the best of the car. It provides information for all of the driver’s screens, including real-time content and gauges in the instrument cluster, while reflecting the automaker’s look and feel and offering drivers a customizable experience. Many other automakers around the world are working to bring CarPlay Ultra to drivers, including newly committed brands Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
Andrew J. Hawkins for The Verge:
In an interview on Decoder, Ford CEO Jim Farley said he is taking a wait-and-see approach about whether to authorize Apple CarPlay Ultra in Ford’s vehicles.
[S]ince its launch, Apple has yet to announce any additional automakers beyond Aston Martin and Porsche. That delay could be the result of companies, many of which are attempting their own software modernizations, expressing concerns about Apple’s desires to take over all the functions inside the vehicle. Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius said as much on his episode of Decoder last year. And now its Farley’s turn, who admitted he wasn’t that impressed with the first iteration of CarPlay Ultra.
“We don’t like the execution in round one of Ultra, but we’re very committed to Apple,” Farley told Wall Street Journal columnist and Decoder guest host Joanna Stern. “I’ve talked to Tim many times about this.”
Ford isn’t saying no to Apple, Farley said, it just wants some clarity about how CarPlay Ultra will interact with some of the core vehicle functions, including advanced features like hands-free driver assist.
“How far do you want the Apple brand to go?” he asked “Do you want the Apple brand to start the car? Do you want the Apple brand to limit the speed? Do you want the Apple brand to limit access?”
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve never been impressed with Ford. If the Apple brand actually started a Ford, Apple’d be performing a miracle.
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… and people whined about how they would never buy a car without Carplay. If they hold on to their absolutist ideologies, then they will save a lot of money by never buying another new car.
Carplay never was all that great. Turns out carmakers have learned a thing or two over the years, and they know they can offer the functionality people want without a middleman veneer built into the infotainment screen. Apple’s one-size-fits-all offering was always a half measure.
Now if they would just stop shoving all formerly reliable and intuitive switches into buried unintuitive menu options on their filthy touchscreens, the world would be a better place.
MB, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW are actively bringing back physical controls in their new models. Drivers prefer them. A growing trend of “screen fatigue” from constant interaction with digital devices is leading some to seek out ways to “de-technologize” everyday experiences, with buttons offering a tangible alternative.
Well how about this headline: “Apple isn’t impressed with Farley as Ford CEO”
So far Farley has cost Ford a ton in a once reliable F-Series, full of mechanical problems and no longer making the top 10 in longest lasting vehicles. GM and Toyota and even Doge Trucks have crushed Ford out of the long-lasting reliability game.
Their EV push has cost them billions and billions. The Mustang Mach-e needs a lot of work for the next generation but looks like it’ll get a mild makeover.
Not sure what he’s doing that’s been good, but Apple Car Play? Hello?! Give people choice and I can tell you what I’d choose. Apple’s tools vs Ford’s any tech day of the week. Sheesh…
Yeah, that whole touch screen phone will never take off. Don’t they know who we are?
So said the CEO of Research In Motion and the famed Blackberry.
and, yes…I don’t buy cars without Car Play. Auto manufacturers mostly suck at UI/UX.
Good luck with the recalls at Ford.
I understand why automakers are afraid of ceding too much ground to Apple. They don’t want to be commoditized. But without hearing any unreasonable demands that Apple has made, it’s hard to give credence to what Farley is saying here. I like CarPlay and thought I would never buy a vehicle without it, but the reviews I’ve seen of GM vehicles make it seem like they’re actually OK. You can still answer/make calls and even dictate texts in those vehicles. It just doesn’t have the mapping integration. While that is a bit annoying, I think that in EVs it’s actually a bit more common to use the built-in mapping system, since it knows where chargers are located and how much range the car has (which CarPlay doesn’t know). So if I were to buy an EV, I wouldn’t really care that much if it had CarPlay—just whether the built-in system were good on its own.
The Ford is an add-on to the CarPlay Ultra, not the other way around.
I’ve never been too impressed with the auto makers’ on versions of this, CarPlay has been far superior, and it stays up-to-date in so many ways. I keep a lot of appointments in my calendar, along with the address, and I like that when I bring up maps it proposes the address for my appointment. I doubt a car manufacturer will integrate so well, and I actually don’t want them to have that kind of access anyway. I specifically bought my last car with CarPlay capability as an absolute necessity.