Fast on the heels of the news that GM has no intention of using Apple CarPlay in its electric vehicles moving forward comes the announcement that there will still be a little bit of Apple involved regardless.
That's because GM has announced that it has hired former Apple employee Mike Abbott to lead its software team.
Abbott was previously in charge of Apple's cloud services division, one that was responsible for iCloud and other services. Now, he'll report directly to GM CEO Mary Barra and take on the role of executive vice president of software from May 22.
A new gig
Reuters reports that Abbott was also a "partner at investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, focusing on the mobile device and cloud computing areas." But his main gig now will be to try and find a way for GM to entertain and provide information for drivers without giving them the option of just using their iPhones.
GM is in the middle of an attempt to roll its own solution out after ditching CarPlay, a move that Ford has already said that it has no intention of following.
"GM and other automakers are looking to software as a major revenue source in the future as fleet and other buyers seek vehicle diagnostic systems, partially automated driving software, and other services," Reuters notes. It's thought that companies like GM are also concerned that Apple's position in between the driver and the car's systems could prove problematic further down the line.
In fact, Apple announced CarPlay upgrades alongside iOS 16 a year ago that promised to hook more deeply into a car's own systems. That has so far not come to fruition, but the idea was that CarPlay could potentially access information like a vehicle's speed and current fuel or battery range. That now seems unlikely, especially if you plan on buying a GM automobile like the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer.
