General Motors, the biggest car manufacturer in the United States, is set to phase out Apple CarPlay from its electric cars, starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer.
According to Reuters, the automaker is looking to phase out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technologies in favor of "built-in infotainment systems developed with Google."
This would be a significant setback for Apple as it would lose a large market share across North America in the vehicle dashboard market. Currently, Chevrolet, manufactured by GM, offers more models with Apple CarPlay than any other brand.
Pull over, Apple
The partnership between General Motors and Google is said to have started in 2019 as the automaker wanted to build better-integrated vehicle systems to get more data on the way people drive its cars.
Edward Kummer, GM's chief digital officer, and Mike Himche, executive director of digital cockpit experience, said in a recent interview,
"We have a lot of new driver assistance features coming that are more tightly coupled with navigation," Himche told Reuters. "We don’t want to design these features in a way that are dependent on person having a cellphone."
The company has announced that buyers will get Google Maps and Google Assistant for eight years at no extra cost.
The company plans to still offer Apple CarPlay in the combustion models of its cars and will allow for Bluetooth connectivity between iPhone and the vehicle. This means that while owners of 2024 electric models will not have Apple CarPlay they can still make calls and listen to music with the best iPhones on the market.
With WWDC announced for June 5, there are rumors of updates for CarPlay that would include deeper integration with vehicles. We're waiting for the first next-generation CarPlay vehicles to launch in late 2023 with the addition of widgets and support for multiple displays. So, whilst this will not be what Apple wants to hear, the future of CarPlay still looks promising.
