Automakers to Apple: Keep Your CarPlay Out of Our Climate Controls

Apple's shiny new CarPlay Ultra promised to transform your entire dashboard into an iPhone-powered command center. But three years after its grand debut, most automakers are delivering a collective "thanks, but no thanks" to Cupertino's most ambitious in-car takeover yet. What you need to know: Apple's next-gen CarPlay goes way beyond mirroring your phone to control A/C, speedometer, and radio — but major brands like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volvo are saying "don't invade our systems."

Let's break down why this battle for your dashboard matters — and what it means for your next car purchase.

What exactly is CarPlay Ultra trying to take over?

Think of regular CarPlay as a polite houseguest that sits quietly on your infotainment screen, letting you navigate with Apple Maps and skip Spotify tracks. CarPlay Ultra? It wants to redecorate your entire cockpit. Apple describes it as bringing "the best of iPhone and the best of the car together for a deeply integrated experience" — meaning it controls your instrument cluster, climate settings, and radio through the Apple interface.

What's genuinely impressive is the customization level Apple built in. Drivers can choose from curated instrument cluster themes, swap between classic analog gauges and ultra-simple Apple bar designs, and access iPhone-powered widgets right in the dashboard. This level of personalization goes far beyond basic phone mirroring — it's Apple reimagining the entire driving interface.

The system requires iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 and operates wirelessly from engine start, eliminating the brief connection lag that sometimes bugs current CarPlay users. It's impressive tech that was worth the wait — though that wait has been longer than expected.

After Apple first announced this vision in 2022, CarPlay Ultra finally launched in May 2025 exclusively with Aston Martin vehicles in the US and Canada — about five months behind Apple's original deadline.

Why Mercedes and others are drawing the line

Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius delivered the most direct rebuke when asked about CarPlay Ultra: "The short answer is no" to giving Apple control over "the whole cockpit head unit — in our case, a passenger screen — and everything to somebody else."

His reasoning cuts to the heart of automakers' concerns. Mercedes views its operating system as "the central nervous system in the brain of the whole car" — and believes only the manufacturer can tie all vehicle systems together properly. This isn't just corporate territorialism; it reflects genuine concerns about deep technical integration and the complexity of managing everything from battery monitoring to advanced driver assistance systems.

That philosophical stance resonates across the industry. Mercedes isn't alone in this thinking: major brands including Audi, Volvo, Polestar and Renault have "no plans" to adopt CarPlay Ultra despite earlier hints they might. The resistance stems from more than just control — it's about data and revenue streams that automakers lose when customers default to Apple's interface instead of built-in systems.

The pushback gains context when you consider that CarPlay is already available in over 90% of new vehicles, yet automakers still feel they're losing valuable customer data and touchpoints when users bypass their native infotainment systems for Apple's experience.

GM goes nuclear: No CarPlay at all

While most brands offer standard CarPlay but refuse the Ultra version, General Motors took the most extreme stance by dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto entirely from its EVs starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV. GM's rationale centers on EV-specific integration: the company claims its built-in system provides more accurate battery monitoring, charging route planning, and preconditioning that phone-based mapping can't match.

The move proved controversial enough that consumer backlash was swift and decisive. Consumer sentiment strongly opposes GM's decision, with 87% of respondents in one poll calling lack of connectivity features a "dealbreaker." That consumer revolt created a market opportunity for a company called White Automotive, which developed a retrofit solution to add CarPlay back to GM EVs — until GM shut it down, citing concerns about "unintended issues" affecting "critical safety features."

Other tech-forward brands like Tesla and Rivian have used their own software from the beginning, but their approach differs from GM's strategy. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe explained that CarPlay "isn't consistent with how we think about really creating a pure product experience" — positioning it as a design philosophy rather than a cost-cutting measure.

The (very short) list of CarPlay Ultra adopters

So who's actually embracing Apple's vision? The committed list remains surprisingly thin. Aston Martin launched as the exclusive debut partner, with the system rolling out to existing compatible models "in the coming weeks through a software update available at local dealers."

Beyond that initial partnership, the adoption landscape looks sparse. Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis have signed up for CarPlay Ultra integration in future vehicles, while Porsche remains committed from the original announcement. Jaguar Land Rover said it would continue to evaluate the system — which sounds like polite corporate speak for "we're not convinced yet."

What's telling is the contrast between early enthusiasm and current reality. The lukewarm reception represents a far cry from Apple's original 2022 presentation showing 14 automaker logos of supposedly excited partners. Three years later, that enthusiasm has clearly cooled as automakers weighed the tradeoffs of handing Apple deeper control over their customers' experience.

Where this (probably) ends up

Apple desperately needs CarPlay Ultra to succeed. After abandoning its Apple Car project, extending CarPlay's presence represents Apple's "last hope" to weave its software into the automotive industry and capture more of users' daily lives during their average hour-long commutes.

But automakers clearly aren't ready to surrender that territory, and Apple seems to recognize this reality. With standard CarPlay supporting over 600 million sessions daily and multiple surveys showing customers frequently choose it over built-in systems, Apple is hedging its bets by strengthening the current experience.

Don't Miss: Apple's iOS 26 update this fall will bring CarPlay Ultra features like widgets, Live Activities, and improved messaging to standard CarPlay users. This strategic move potentially reduces the urgency for the full Ultra experience by giving iPhone users many of the advanced features without requiring automakers to surrender deeper vehicle control.

The final verdict probably depends on what drivers actually want. Do iPhone users need Apple controlling their A/C and speedometer, or is standard CarPlay integration enough? Based on automakers' collective reluctance and Apple's decision to backport Ultra features to standard CarPlay, the answer seems to be: thanks Apple, but we're good with what we've got.