Last year, Apple officially announced CarPlay Ultra, the next generation of CarPlay that it had originally shown off at WWDC 2022.
CarPlay Ultra began rolling out to Aston Martin in the United States and Canada, but let's take a look at how we got here and which other automakers will support the new technology.
In December 2023, Apple said Porsche and Aston Martin would be the first automakers to support the next-generation CarPlay. At the time, the company said support would begin in 2024. However, Apple confirmed in January that CarPlay Ultra had been delayed but was still in development.
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The company does not provide a timeline for when CarPlay Ultra will be available to other vehicle brands beyond Aston Martin, nor does it have a specific list of automakers on its website that have signed on to support CarPlay Ultra.
Apple: Which automakers will support CarPlay Ultra?
When Apple announced the next generation of CarPlay at WWDC 2022, it said that several brands had committed to supporting the platform. In May of last year, Apple noted that three new partners had signed on: Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
However, several brands have since abandoned their plans to support the new technology. Mercedes-Benz was originally on Apple's list but changed its mind in 2024. According to the Financial Times, Audi, Volvo, Polestar, and Renault have also decided not to support CarPlay Ultra, despite initially being presented as partners by Apple.
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Now, the following car manufacturers are said to be planning to eventually support CarPlay Ultra:
- Acura
- Aston Martin
- Ford
- Genesis
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Infiniti
- Jaguar
- Kia
- Land Rover
- Lincoln
- Nissan
- Porsche
According to a rumor from Top Gear, Hyundai’s upcoming IONIQ 3 EV is said to support CarPlay Ultra. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg recently reported that CarPlay Ultra will be coming to at least one major new Hyundai/Kia model in the second half of this year. Hyundai announced the IONIQ 3 in April, but has not commented on whether the vehicle will support CarPlay Ultra as rumored.
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Apple has also touted Ford as a partner for CarPlay Ultra, but the automaker recently said it was not impressed with the first version of the platform. In a recent interview, Ford CEO Jim Farleywas asked if the company was considering supporting CarPlay Ultra. He replied: “We are considering it. We don’t like the execution in the first round of Ultra, but we are very committed to Apple. I’ve talked to Tim about it many times.”
This answer is better than a simple “no,” but it may not reflect the enthusiasm that Ford drivers might have hoped for.
The question now is whether other car manufacturers have abandoned CarPlay Ultra. Ideally, Apple will provide a full list soon, but this information is available at this time.
