GM Swears Ditching Apple CarPlay Was Still the Right Move

The company is tripling—quadrupling down on its commitment to a custom user interface.

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Jeff Perez

By: Jeff Perez

Nov 4, 2024 at 12:45pm ET

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GM's senior vice president of software and services said the company has a "strong conviction" to its UI.
The company will not reverse course on its decision to remove Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from future products.
Other technologies like Super Cruise, the company notes, should be enough to woo potential buyers.

In March of 2023, General Motors said it was ditching Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in some of its future products—even though customers still very clearly demand it. GM has gotten a lot of flack since that announcement, but the company shows no signs of reversing plans.

In a recent interview with The Verge, GM's senior vice president of software and services, Baris Cetinok, said the company is still making the right move in regards to CarPlay. Cetinok noted that GM has a “strong conviction” about replacing the smartphone projection with its native software.

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"We have a strong conviction that effort pays off in a better customer experience," noted Cetinok. "You get the most out of your vehicle because now we’re the company that builds the vehicle and is also creating the infotainment experience, the cluster experience, the app, and everything. We’re going to build that one day and maybe a voice assistant on top of it."

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GM has cited everything from safety to usability in defending its decision to remove CarPlay, but we’re not so sure. Cetinok went on to say that other technologies, like Super Cruise, should be enough to convince potential customers that they don’t need CarPlay.

This comes at a time when Apple is dramatically improving CarPlay functionality. The next iteration of CarPlay will be more flexible and more configurable, the company promises, and be able to project onto more screens. The latest version of CarPlay with the iOS 18 operating system offers new functions improved maps, enhanced voice control, and even a silent mode.

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