Apple’s new CarPlay Ultra has finally debuted, and surprisingly, it’s in an Aston Martin. Apple showed off this new version of CarPlay a few years ago, and we have virtually heard nothing about it since then. Until now.
Essentially, this is Apple’s answer to Google Built-in. Where the entire system is running off of CarPlay, versus some proprietary software that Aston Martin and other car makers are using.
Apple announced today that CarPlay Ultra is available for new Aston Martin vehicle orders in North America and will expand to vehicles globally over the next year. Other car makers will be bringing CarPlay Ultra in the future, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
The best experience for iPhone users
This will undoubtedly be the best experience for iPhone users. Luckily, it will be coming to more vehicles than just Aston Martin, but that is a pretty interesting choice to start with.
“iPhone users love CarPlay, and it has transformed how people connect with their vehicles. With CarPlay Ultra, together with automakers, we are reimagining the in-car experience, making it even more unified and consistent,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.
CarPlay Ultra also provides deeper integration than ever before, with content for all of the driver’s screens. This includes the instrument cluster, and dynamic options for the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge and more.
Apple says that drivers can also use onscreen controls, physical buttons or Siri to manage everything. That last part is a bit scary, knowing how unreliable Siri is these days. CarPlay Ultra is also bringing new widgets that are powered by your iPhone, that will fit perfectly in the car’s screen or gauge cluster.
This is also going to be a unique design to each automaker. Similar to what we have seen with Google built-in, where this is going to be different from Hyundai to Aston Martin to Kia.
Top Gear has published a 18-minute YouTube video walking through CarPlay Ultra.
