Is Tesla About To Finally Surrender To Apple Carplay?

Tesla, 1 of nan original Apple CarPlay holdouts, whitethorn yet beryllium adjacent to really adopting nan immensely celebrated telephone projection strategy for its cars, Bloomberg reports today. The institution has started testing nan capacity internally, anonymous sources show nan publication, and could beryllium adjacent to releasing it publicly, possibly successful a fewer months — aliases possibly not astatine all. Tesla has a history of toying pinch various features for months aliases moreover years earlier yet deciding to termination them.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are typically 2 of nan astir sought aft features for caller car shoppers. But contempt large protests from fans, Tesla has ne'er allowed telephone mirroring successful its cars, arguing that it tin supply a better, much integrated package acquisition than a smartphone — a position that is strangely increasing celebrated among immoderate bequest automakers, like GM.

Also, Elon Musk has a analyzable narration pinch Apple. He has criticized nan company’s App Store policies, and was reportedly miffed erstwhile Apple poached twelve of Tesla engineers to unit its ain grounded car project.

But times person changed, and successful nan aftermath of the Great Elon Musk Backlash of 2025, Tesla is now successful a income slump and looking for ways to juice demand. Bloomberg reports that adopting CarPlay, arsenic outlandish arsenic it seems, could beryllium portion of a broader strategy to get group willing again successful Tesla’s cars.

Tesla’s type of CarPlay would, of course, beryllium taxable to nan automaker’s ain allowances. The institution plans of featuring CarPlay successful a model wrong nan larger interface, Bloomberg said, which intends nan projection would not afloat switch retired Tesla’s ain software. Tesla besides plans connected utilizing nan modular type of CarPlay, and not Apple’s caller much immersive CarPlay Ultra that includes halfway functions for illustration nan speedometer and ambiance functions.

Unsurprisingly, nan absence of Apple CarPlay is often a dealbreaker for galore car shoppers. A 2023 survey revealed that astir half of caller car buyers globally wouldn’t bargain a car without CarPlay aliases Android Auto. The aforesaid study said that 85 percent of group preferred nan phone-based strategy to their car’s built-in software.

It’s suggestive of this strange, upside down clip successful which we unrecorded that a institution for illustration GM is actively plotting really to fortify its ain package to obviate nan request for CarPlay, based mostly connected nan occurrence of EV-only companies for illustration Tesla and Rivian that don’t let telephone projection — and meanwhile, 1 of those aforesaid EV-only companies is now contemplating its ain flip-flop connected CarPlay. Wild stuff!