Why BMW Says Apple CarPlay Is not Really Necessary For Drivers

Apple has invested some huge cash in CarPlay, and as such, desires all iPhone house owners to make use of it and all automakers to undertake it. CarPlay is the mixing between your iPhone and your car while you join it by way of the USB port. It lets you entry your iPhone by way of your automotive’s built-in show display screen. This allows you to simply hearken to your music, reply to messages and calls, and use Apple Maps for navigation. We stock our smartphones all over the place, so it is smart for Apple CarPlay to have vehicle-related features. 

Nonetheless, BMW says that one perform, the navigation, is definitely not most popular by CarPlay customers. Knowledge from BMW does not assist the concept CarPlay customers depend on their iPhone for in-car navigation. Regardless of Apple releasing extra CarPlay options and partnerships, corresponding to having the ability to remotely connect to a smart home security system, it seems navigation may not be a consumer favourite. Now with CarPlay Ultra entering the market, it appears not all automakers see a motive to assist smartphone integrations.

BMW’s Senior Vice President of UI/UX Growth, Stephan Durach, had some attention-grabbing information concerning the frequency of CarPlay use, particularly for navigational functions. That is based mostly on BMW amassing information from 10 million automobiles, which is used to information future decision-making for the automobiles. That may be a pretty sizable quantity, and positively indicator of total driver habits.

In line with Durach by way of BMWBLOG, “Individuals say they’re driving throughout and utilizing CarPlay for navigation. I can let you know, that is not true.” He continued, “They began utilizing our personal navigation,” and that “individuals have nonetheless their telephone linked with CarPlay, however just for devoted use instances.”

So, regardless of drivers nonetheless having CarPlay linked for different functions like messaging, music, or changing the background, they’ve been counting on BMW’s personal navigation system over Apple’s. Durach emphasised that this is because of BMW’s simple-to-use navigation setup, which incorporates an intuitive voice command system. It additionally boasts a Routines function that goals to scale back how a lot you’ll want to mess together with your navigation whereas driving. This desire for the automotive’s personal inside system is probably going the explanation why BMW shouldn’t be going to supply assist for the brand new CarPlay Extremely.

Apple is now ushering in CarPlay Extremely, the most recent model of CarPlay. It claims to have extra capabilities, deeper automotive integration, and a singular look that’s based mostly on every automaker. CarPlay Extremely started its launch in Might 2025 with Aston Martin, with plans to increase globally. In a press release concerning CarPlay Extremely to Apple Newsroom, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Product Advertising, Bob Borchers, acknowledged, “iPhone customers love CarPlay, and it has reworked how individuals join with their automobiles.”

Nonetheless, there are quite a few vehicles where CarPlay may not be available at all. Tesla doesn’t, because it already has its personal inside system that does the identical issues. Rivian is one other revolutionary electrical car firm that does not assist CarPlay. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe spoke in a podcast hosted by The Verge concerning the explanation why. Scaringe elaborated that Rivian’s inside system may be very holistic and intuitive. All the things is supposed to work collectively seamlessly. But when drivers use Apple CarPlay, then it takes them right into a third-party app, and they’re going to now not have full management of the car’s capabilities. They should then exit CarPlay to deal with sure particular features. The longer term for good automobiles with complete inside techniques could imply that smartphone connections like CarPlay or Android Auto will change into a factor of the previous.