Announced amid the WWDC 2022 event, Apple's new CarPlay vision feature shows ample promise in allowing users to fully customize the dash of their own vehicles through the use of an integrated pseudo operating system slated for debut in 2023. During its unveiling, Apple detailed several auto manufacturers primed to have fully integrated CarPlay vision features in their various models, including Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Land Rover, Audi, Honda, Ford, Volvo, and plenty more.
There were-however, some notable names missing from that list, including the likes of both Tesla and BMW. Dominant in the field of electric vehicles, Tesla remains a mainstay in the auto industry and is typically a benchmark for success in how to approach the business, yet it has at all corners seemingly shirked the potential of adding CarPlay functionality to its fleet of EVs. BMW, on the other hand, has implemented the Apple featureset before yet ran into several problems, thus leading to a rather strained ecosystem.
For the German car brand, it has always been about key functionality in the boldest ways possible. Look no further than CES 2022, wherein BMW showcased its E Ink color-changing paint technology, to see the ways BMW stands in terms of innovation. Still, when it comes to full integration with Apple, things get quite messy.
The firm first pushed out Apple CarPlay BMW implementations back in 2016 for select rides following a long bout of uncertainty in terms of the platform's viability on the company's vehicles. BMW was even among the last global auto manufacturers to not debut at least one vehicle with Apple Carplay available. Similarly to most, CarPlay functionality was offered as a typical auto package for BMW consumers but would later be upended in 2019 when the company began charging an annual $80 fee for BMW Apple CarPlay functionality.
According to a 2019 Car and Driver piece, the pricing for BMW CarPlay capabilities stemmed largely from the auto manufacturer's internal wireless system built into the rides. CarPlay itself would essentially get in the way of necessary onboard computer necessities, meaning any software update pushed out via Apple could indirectly cause irreparable harm to the vehicle's infotainment system and possibly even more.
It didn't take more than a year for BMW to eventually lift that $80 CarPlay subscription, but it calls to the surface the reality plaguing the German auto brand and its current connectivity situation with Apple's CarPlay vision. More recently, BMW announced that some future vehicle shipments might well be missing both Android Auto, Google's own vehicle operating system, as well as Apple CarPlay following mass chip shortages. Although other car brands aren't facing any similar woes, it's clear that BMW technology and Apple's CarPlay simply don't go together.
"Currently, we have placed a clear focus on further enhancing our iDrive user interface system and, as part of this development, will continue the seamless integration of Apple's ecosystem," said BMW in a recent statement to The Verge. "Integral to these efforts will be an evaluation of how the latest innovations announced at WWDC can be integrated into our solutions."
As for Tesla, Elon Musk's golden goose kind of does its own thing. Given the fact that Tesla lies at the heart of the technology industry, the firm's own self-built software powers the vehicle on a wide array of varied fronts. Its V11.0 software update is proof enough of the company's foothold, showcasing a newly rendered light show, user interface, entertainment and game functionality, plus much more.
In other words, Tesla drivers don't really need CarPlay, because all of the same or somewhat similar functionalities are already there, to an extent. Even CarPlay itself has been shown to run on Tesla vehicles utilizing a sophisticated workaround procedure for those inclined, but it doesn't seem very likely that Apple's CarPlay will be making any debuts on Tesla anytime in the near future.
During the WWDC event, Apple noted that a total of 79% of US car buyers would not consider a vehicle without CarPlay functionality, which on the one hand certainly makes sense, yet on the other could also be Apple patting itself on the back. The question of if CarPlay implementation truly belongs on Tesla lies solely in Musk and other assorted Tesla engineers, and it may well see integration as Musk did recently float ideas of working with improving Tesla audio through AirPlay.
