A little over a year ago, General Motors made what could well be one of its biggest gambles in years. : Ending CarPlay support for all future electric vehicles.
Most of us thought this was a crazy decision that would likely result in a huge number of lost sales – but a new report suggests the company felt it had little choice…
Solution GM to drop support for CarPlay
When GM made this announcement, there was no mystery about its goal: rather than allowing customers to use Apple services and iPhone apps, the company hoped to generate subscription revenue for its own use . infotainment services.
The mystery was how the company could imagine that this move would benefit it. Back in 2021, Apple said that 79% of US car buyers “only consider CarPlay-enabled vehicles” when making a purchasing decision. We conducted our own survey and found the exact same result.
Things didn't get any better when GM released its first vehicle after CarPlay, the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV. Reviews of its own infotainment system have been… unkind.
The infotainment display completely melted, stuck in an endless cycle of turning off, on, showing a map centered on the Pacific Ocean, and turning off again. This continued until we pulled off the freeway and started the car again. After rebooting everything was fine, but an hour later it happened again.
GM had a hard time working with Apple
A lengthy Bloomberg article sheds some light on the company's thinking. One factor was that GM found it difficult to work with Apple, which it said did not respect the automaker's automotive expertise.
Apple didn't even seem particularly open to feedback on what areas CarPlay could improve on. A former GM executive recalls teammates recommending changes based on their understanding of how screens could interfere with work. “One of the Apple engineers said, 'Look, our system is better.' Why can't you just do what we say?” recalls this executive, who wishes to remain anonymous to avoid professional retribution. “Our years of experience with driver distraction were not even considered.”
However, it seems that the feeling was mutual: GM failed to appreciate the depth of Apple's user interface expertise.
In a meeting with Greg Joswiak, now Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, an executive tried to sell him on GM's deep expertise in the auto industry, as if to suggest that Apple was from the deep end, emphasizing the complexity of cars and what it might take to develop them four years […] Joswiak responded: “How long do you think it will take us to create the iPhone?”
The new CarPlay interface was key
GM was particularly worried about Apple's plans for the new CarPlay to take over the car's entire dashboard, which the company calls a “new instrument cluster.”
Apple no longer wanted to simply project a copy of iOS onto the infotainment screen; he wanted the iPhone to monitor the critical cluster behind the wheel. In Detroit, this material was sacrosanct. GM's Wexler says the next-generation CarPlay, which GM knew about before it was announced, was a “major factor” in the subsequent decision to divorce Apple.
But in the end it's all about the money
However, in essence, we are talking about the subscription revenue that GM plans to receive.
This looks promising for Super Cruise, a service that allows hands-free driving on highways. The starting price for this feature is $2,500, and after three years it will cost $25 per month. The company also offers subscriptions for additional safety features, internet connectivity and remote vehicle access, as well as model-specific premium apps such as off-road services for 4×4 SUVs.
How it will convince people to pay for extras when it can't even get the basic infotainment system to work properly remains to be seen. One frustrated 2024 Chevy Blazer EV owner who experienced the crashes described in the reviews said his car spent a month at the dealership while it was repaired, and he's not optimistic it won't happen again.
“If my navigation screen fails again,” he says, “I will at least At least I can do it.” useful by attaching your iPhone to it.”
9to5Mac's Opinion
Best comment from Yep
As far as I know, Apple is not requiring any automakers to fully adopt the CarPlay experience across the entire cluster automotive devices. If they're going to demand it, I expect significant pushback from the industry and it will force more automakers out of the car game. As long as the standard Carplay system remains available, every automaker should support it.
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We've said it before and we'll say it again: this is an incredibly stupid move.
Car makers may have expertise in many areas, but infotainment interfaces are definitely not one of them . The whole reason CarPlay is so popular is precisely because iPhone owners prefer Apple's user interface to those created by car companies.
The subscription revenue generated by GM's own services will be completely negligible compared to the sales that they will receive. will lose out to companies that continue to offer CarPlay. The question is not whether GM will change this absurd policy, but how long it will take before it does so.
Photo: Chevrolet
