Apple tightens its grip on car tech with the introduction of CarPlay Ultra, offering full-screen maps, Siri control, and deep vehicle integration.
Apple’s latest in-car technology, CarPlay Ultra, has officially debuted with Aston Martin, making the British marque the first automaker in the world to offer the next-generation system to customers. The rollout begins with the DBX SUV and extends to Aston Martin’s core sportscar models, with North American deliveries already underway and a global release expected within 12 months.
CarPlay Ultra is not just an upgrade—it’s a strategic power move by Apple. While the tech giant has reportedly shelved its long-rumored “Apple Car” project, CarPlay Ultra gives Apple all the benefits of automotive market penetration without the risk and capital exposure of vehicle manufacturing.
By embedding itself in the infotainment backbone of luxury vehicles, Apple extends its ecosystem into the driving experience—gathering data, growing services revenue, and strengthening iPhone lock-in—without touching a chassis or battery cell.
This subtle takeover becomes even more relevant when contrasted with the backlash Xiaomi faced with its SU7 electric vehicle. Critics questioned why a smartphone company was building cars. While the SU7 had a lot of initial success, Xiaomi now faces a host of complaints, law suits and lots of reputational damage based on some of the rollbacks it had to issue on its products as well as quality issues. All this along with the ethical weight of how a smartphone and tech company deals with the fact that cars as a product category are unique in that they get into accidents and cause deaths.
Apple avoids all of this by turning other OEMs into its distribution network. In essence, CarPlay Ultra is Apple’s Trojan Horse in the car industry: a full takeover of the in-car experience disguised as a “feature.” As more automakers embrace CarPlay Ultra, Apple creates another user experience to draw untapped customers into their ecosystem.
What Is CarPlay Ultra?
CarPlay Ultra builds on the existing CarPlay platform by offering multi-screen integration, allowing Apple’s interface to appear not only on the central infotainment touchscreen but also across the digital instrument cluster. This means that features such as full-screen Apple Maps, customizable speedometer and tachometer designs, media playback, and even vehicle functions like climate control and radio can now be accessed through a seamless iOS-like interface.
CarPlay Ultra supports touchscreen gestures, physical button interaction, and Siri voice control, giving drivers flexibility in how they manage in-car functions. Widgets powered by iPhone can be added directly to the car’s displays, offering glanceable access to calendar events, navigation, and music playback, tailored to each user’s preferences.
With CarPlay Ultra, Apple is creating a customisable, deeply integrated digital cockpit, designed to reflect the driver’s taste while maintaining the brand identity of the car manufacturer—in this case, Aston Martin’s signature design language. To use CarPlay Ultra, drivers will need an iPhone 12 or newer, running iOS 18.5 or later.
