You can never be too careful. The new generation of CarPlay should have appeared in its first cars in 2024, but as everyone has noticed, the year ended without any vehicles being presented. On its US site, Apple has not changed the mention to 2024, while in France the page announces the first models "as early as this year", without specifying which one. It is indeed more prudent, but the French message has always been the same.
However, there are signs that the project is progressing behind the scenes. Patents were filed last year with the European Intellectual Property Office, and better still, there is a reference to Audi. Porsche and Aston Martin have also officially announced (end of 2023) that they have compatible models in the works.
But these developments are clearly taking longer than expected. It must be said that CarPlay 2.0 is fundamentally different from the first generation, which simply displays iPhone applications on the car screen. The new generation is much closer to a real operating system integrated into the vehicle, with an iPhone still essential for sharing data with apps.
As a result, Apple must work with each car manufacturer to adapt and optimize the software for the new CarPlay ("designs tailored to each manufacturer that express the brand and uniqueness of your car", as the Apple company explains). Which is not at all obvious, since all parties involved have quality requirements... and can be stubborn on occasion.
However, it is unusual to see a project announced by Apple in 2022 fail to launch. There is a whiff of AirPower, the charging mat for iPhones and Apple Watches presented in September 2017, postponed several times, and finally abandoned two years later. The stakes are much higher here, especially after the cancellation of the Titan electric car project: CarPlay is in fact the only technology that ties Apple to the automotive market.
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