► Debuts on selected Aston Martin cars
► Now incorporates other vehicle functions
► We have a go
This is Apple CarPlay Ultra, the next logical step when it comes to smartphone and infotainment integration – and the closest we’re getting to an Apple Car this decade. It debuts in Aston Martin cars first and plugs Apple’s software into nearly every aspect of the car, spreading the iOS UI from the infotainment screen all the way to the cockpit dials.
Does it work? Keep reading for our full review.
CarPlay Ultra is bolted onto the existing system, but reaches further into the car, giving you access to things like ESC, climate control and the radio among other bits. But it also changes the look and feel of other parts of the car, such as the speedometer and tachometer dials.
Unlike Google’s HMI as seen in the Polestar 4 for instance, which runs natively at all times, Apple CarPlay Ultra will require an Apple smartphone to work and is best thought of a more encompassing version of the existing CarPlay system. To that end, you’ll need an iPhone 12 or newer, running at least iOS 18.54. If you don’t have an iPhone, you’ll continue to be able to use Android Auto, or Aston’s baked-in next-gen infotainment software.
Installing takes a few minutes on the first occasion, though it’s quicker when carried out over a wired connection. After that, Ultra will boot up as soon as you get in the car.
On the surface, much like the system we’ve become used to over the years. Most of the icons are carried over from the basic CarPlay setup but look closer and you’ll see a few subtle additions. Cabin temperature is now displayed long with ‘zones’ as you’re able to change it via CarPlay, but there are new icons that hint at Ultra’s extended functionality.
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Climate, Radio and Vehicle icons now appear along with a Settings icon we’ll get to later. Climate works pretty much how you’d expect, with zones adjusted via an onscreen slider. Radio functionality means you can switch stations within the CarPlay environment, without having to dip into the car’s native infotainment instead. Finally, the vehicle control area allows you to control things like Drive Modes, Hill Descent control and the DBX’s Bowers & Wilkins sound system.
Importantly, this functionality is 1:1 with the switchgear in the cabin; change the volume or climate control via a physical control, and it’ll be shown on CarPlay Ultra.
Everything works how you expect with very little, fuss – and Siri works across the whole thing like a relatively accurate puppet master. It doesn’t feel like a step change though – more like how things should have been from the very beginning.
The biggest visual changes come with the new CarPlay-powered cockpit dials. Customisable to the degree you’d expect of a Cupertino product, there are a range of layouts available: you start with a traditional-looking Aston Martin default, but swipe further and things get techier. Check out the bar-focused, layout below, for example, which looks more like an iPad app than something to measure revs or speed.
You can choose the colour-scheme and background for each of them, but it’s interesting how the Aston Martin layout manages to fuse the design style of Gaydon with that of Apple. Take a look at the pictures here, and you’ll find it sympathetic to the design of the rest of the cabin – whilst still having a hint of California. Let’s see how successful other car makers will be.
In practice, using the cockpit dials are no different to using the default ones, though you could say it’s less-mentally taxing when glancing between the two.
Apple CarPlay Ultra feels like a huge thing on the surface, but ultimately, it’s just a logical upgrade to what’s come before. It’s a technological step change but subtle in practice, removing barriers and obstacles that shouldn’t really have existed in the first place.
It’s so sensible that on the rare occasion you must switch back to the car’s native UI (when changing ambient lightning for example) it feels terrible. Like the best technology then, CarPlay Ultra is groundbreaking for around five minutes before melting into everyday use.
The most interesting thing to me? How Aston Martin and other car brands will maintain their look, feel and identity when partnering up with a tech and design giant like Apple. As I write this, Apple has revealed its most dramatic UI change in years: a new ‘Liquid Glass’ interface to be introduced on all Apple devices as well as CarPlay. How its futuristic look will work with Ultra’s tightrope between car and tech device remains to be seen.
Over the last few years, lines have been quietly drawn while partnerships have been publicly signed. With the onset of EVs and their rather analogous powertrains, many car brands have looked to preserve as many touchpoints with the consumer as they can – including an infotainment OS.
How will the likes of Aston and Porsche work with Apple in the future, and how will they preserve their brand identity with it? It’ll be an interesting few years.
Aston Martin says it’ll come as standard on all new orders in the USA and Canada from today and will be available as an update for cars that use Gaydon’s next-gen infotainment system. It’ll expand to other markets in the next 12 months.
Curtis Moldrich is CAR magazine’s Digital Editor and has worked for the brand for the past five years. He’s responsible for online strategy, including CAR’s website, social media channels such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, and helps on wider platform strategy as CAR magazine branches out on to Apple News+ and more.
By Curtis Moldrich
CAR's Digital Editor, F1 and sim-racing enthusiast. Partial to clever tech and sports bikes
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