CarPlay Is All That's Left of the Apple Car

Apple's self-driving ambitions have withered to a 'CarOS.'

The idea of an Apple car has been around as long as that of an Apple TV, and it looks doomed to the same fate. Much as the Apple television became a little set-top box of software that attaches to a commercial TV, Apple's car dreams look like they're shrinking to the latest version of CarPlay, a replacement for existing cars' dull and disconnected instrument panels.

There's a long Wikipedia article(Opens in a new window) about the now eight-year history of the Apple car, capping with leading analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saying that if a vehicle exists, it might not be launched until "2028 or later." MacRumors agrees(Opens in a new window) in an in-depth rundown. Apple's problem with building a physical car is that it only appears to want a build a truly, fully autonomous vehicle, and that's turned out to be far harder than either Apple or Tesla thought it would be in 2015. The car division keeps losing executives, most recently just a few weeks ago(Opens in a new window).

So what's left? Although Apple isn't using the word, call it not CarPlay but "CarOS"—a fully Apple-fied navigation, instrumentation, and entertainment software experience that gets laid over other manufacturers' cars (none of which drive themselves). Coming from Audi, Acura, Honda, and others starting in late 2023, the new CarPlay requires deep integration with a vehicle, as it takes over your instrument panel, climate control, and other features.

Many automotive brands have signed on to Apple's plans.

The new system can put navigation right into the instrument cluster behind the steering wheel and control your smart home from a distance, according to Apple's brief demo at WWDC.

In that way, Apple helps existing carmakers catch up with Tesla and its curiously iPad-like interface. Some drivers love that and many hate it, but everyone agrees that Tesla is cutting-edge when it comes to software.

But it also shows the trouble Apple has had recently with its ambitious plans to enter major new hardware categories. At WWDC this year, we expected to hear something about RealityOS, the software that would power Apple's future AR and VR headsets. Rumors as late as 2021 tagged 2022(Opens in a new window) as the year for Apple's VR glasses, but now we're hearing at least 2023.

The car, meanwhile, remains Apple's absolute white whale. Without these new product categories coming, Apple must remain the Mac, iPhone, iPad and watch company. It's not a bad place to be, at all; it's just less than some people expect.

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