Tesla begins testing Apple CarPlay support after years of resistance

Tesla is building Apple CarPlay support for its cars. It’s a big change for the electric vehicle maker that’s fought against the popular smartphone feature for years, according to sources who know about the project.

The company started testing the technology internally, people with direct knowledge told Bloomberg. CarPlay lets iPhone users see a vehicle-friendly version of their phone’s software through the car’s dashboard screen. Lots of drivers think it’s a must-have when they’re shopping for a new vehicle.

This flips the script for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk. They’ve ignored pleas to add the feature for years. Musk has slammed Apple repeatedly, mostly over its App Store policies. Things got worse when Apple started hiring away his engineers for its own car project.

No fixed release date yet

Tesla’s talked about rolling out CarPlay in the coming months, the sources said. But there’s no final plan yet, and it could come later. The company is known for killing or pushing back new features even after working on them for months or years.

Tesla cars use an in-house infotainment system with its own apps and features like messaging and web browsing. The company didn’t want to give Apple more access to Tesla customers, especially when the iPhone maker was trying to become a rival in electric vehicles.

But the situation’s different now. Apple bowed out of the EV race in 2024 by canceling its Titan initiative. And Musk now relies on Apple as a key partner for distributing the X social networking app and Grok AI service. Tesla sales have also gotten softer, with some buyers saying not having CarPlay is why they didn’t choose the company’s cars.

About a third of buyers said not having CarPlay or the Android equivalent would be a deal-breaker in their decisions, according to a 2024 study from McKinsey & Co. CarPlay launched in 2014 and includes Apple’s own Messages, Music and Maps apps, plus the Siri voice assistant. It also supports third-party apps like Google Maps and Spotify.

Tesla plans to feature CarPlay within a window inside its broader interface, the people said. That means Apple’s software won’t fully replace the Tesla operating system like it does in many other vehicles.

CarPlay also won’t tap into Tesla features like FSD, or full self-driving mode. Drivers will need to rely on Tesla’s own navigation app for that.

Tesla is going with standard CarPlay version

Tesla plans to use the standard version of CarPlay, not the newer Ultra iteration seen in some Aston Martins and other vehicles. The Ultra version provides control over instrument clusters, seats and climate functions. Apple redesigned the standard CarPlay as part of iOS 26, adding features like widgets for viewing weather and appointments.

Users of iPhones can enable CarPlay either by plugging their headset into a vehicle via a USB cord or, in newer cars, pairing it wirelessly. Tesla plans to support the wireless version, letting drivers connect without cables.

Google offers a CarPlay competitor called Android Auto for devices running its operating system. But Tesla isn’t actively developing support for it.

Getting CarPlay in Tesla cars, which lead the US EV market, would be a major win for Apple as it seeks to keep users within its product ecosystem. Some other automakers, including General Motors, have recently said they’ll remove CarPlay from their vehicles to focus on homegrown infotainment solutions.

CarPlay Ultra, the higher-end version of the software, has also struggled to gain traction. In a reversal from initial public commitments a few years ago, automakers like Audi and Mercedes-Benz have said they don’t currently plan to offer CarPlay Ultra support.

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