Compared to the whole of automotive history, Apple CarPlay is a relatively recent invention. The 2014 Ferrari FF was the first production vehicle to get the iPhone integration software, which rapidly spread across the auto industry and became a must-have, alongside its Android Auto rival, for new car shoppers. But even though 11 years isn’t much compared to the auto industry, it’s ancient history, technologically speaking – some people were still using pagers in 2014, for heaven’s sake. That’s why Apple saw fit to completely revamp CarPlay, starting with the 2025 Aston Martin DBX and its Vantage, DB12, and Vanquish siblings. Now called Apple CarPlay Ultra, the new system is a wholesale improvement over its predecessor.
The Main Difference Between CarPlay And CarPlay Ultra
At first blush, Apple CarPlay Ultra looks very similar to the system you probably already have in your car. The main infotainment page looks similar to before, with a grid of CarPlay-compatible apps like Google Maps, Waze, Spotify, Apple Music, Electrify America, and Podcasts. However, Ultra adds the ability to add widgets to your screen beyond the existing map/music/alert display on the old CarPlay home page, meaning you can customize Apple-specific infotainment menus to your exact needs and desires.
But the biggest difference between CarPlay Ultra and its predecessor is hidden in that app grid, where you’ll see a settings button with a little car on it. Unlike the outgoing CarPlay, which was effectively an app-containing app in a car’s native infotainment system, CarPlay Ultra becomes your car’s infotainment when activated. The new software replaces the built-in climate control, drive mode, and vehicle settings pages with its own seamlessly integrated skins, meaning there’s no need to exit CarPlay to make adjustments to the car itself.
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In fact, Aston Martin says that leaving the Apple software to enter the native infotainment is a bit of a process, as is pulling up CarPlay again once you’re done. The idea is that once you connect your phone, you’ll have the same access to the vehicle’s built-in systems, so there isn’t a compelling reason to interact with the car’s software. Apple CarPlay Ultra is so comprehensive that you can even adjust AM and FM radio within the system if you’ve decided you’ve had enough digital and streaming music.
Complete In-Car Technology Integration
In addition to accessing built-in infotainment functions via CarPlay, Ultra also includes the instrument cluster for the first time ever. Once you’ve connected your phone, a special skin will overlay the digital gauge cluster – in the case of the DBX, Aston Martin and Apple jointly designed its appearance, so it maintains the brand’s graphical DNA even though it’s a function of CarPlay. The digital instrument display has a variety of available layouts, with dual, single, and minimalist gauges on offer. Furthermore, the gauge cluster can mix and match both CarPlay- and vehicle-specific information.
For example, scrolling through the on-screen menu pulls up displays for the car’s fluid temperatures, tire pressures, driving assistance systems, and trip information, all supplied by the DBX, in this case. But right alongside that information is the stuff that comes from your phone: navigation instructions, playlist information, et al. There are even full-screen instrument cluster modes for mobile apps, allowing you to put your Apple Maps or Waze route directly in front of you while your passengers enjoy the touchscreen for entertainment.
On the DBX, the functionality of the gauge displays is similar to what one might find in Audi’s Virtual Cockpit. The key difference, however, is that automaker-designed instrument clusters can only display navigation information from the built-in system, while CarPlay Ultra can frame a variety of third-party apps within the steering wheel. Given Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps all tend to be more accurate and time-efficient than even the best connected OEM navigation systems, this enhancement is a huge plus.
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CarPlay Ultra Offers Customized Appearance Options
One of the other, slightly less significant alterations to Ultra is how customizable its appearance is. Not only do the built-in features blend in with the car’s design (in the case of Aston Martin, at least), the latest CarPlay has a variety of color schemes, some of which even match the car’s ambient lighting. The adjustability isn’t merely for setting the mood with your favorite color, it also extends to the visual appearance of CarPlay Ultra, both on the touchscreen and instrument cluster. Drivers can select a minimalized display for reduced information fatigue on a long drive, or they can opt for as much data as possible – handy for monitoring your car’s temperature during a hot lap or canyon drive.
You can also select a wallpaper for the first time ever. Presumably, automakers will have some say in the available choices – a DB12 infotainment system with a DB5-themed backdrop would be pretty cool – but CarPlay Ultra also lets its users choose one of their photos. The personalized wallpaper function is another way that Apple makes its latest phone integration technology that much more immersive.
Drawbacks To Apple CarPlay Ultra
If you’re looking for reasons to avoid Apple’s latest and greatest in-car technology, you’ll have to get pretty picky. The minimalist appearance and iPhone-inspired typefaces may not be to everyone’s liking. In the case of the Aston Martin DBX, even its “analog” instrument cluster appearance, which includes graphics of the wing badge and gauge displays with dainty hash marks around the dial, features the Apple-corporate font for the numbers and letters. Possibly coincidentally, it makes the gauge display look a lot like something out of a Polestar. We wish it looked a little less generic.
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The extensive nature of Apple CarPlay Ultra could also prove distracting – after all, there are so many more functions than before. That said, many of its newest features could actually serve to reduce driver distraction. For example, the full-screen instrument cluster navigation might make it easier to keep your eyes on the road, only glancing periodically at the map right in front of you for directions. Furthermore, since CarPlay Ultra includes integrated climate and vehicle controls, making small adjustments could be easier than its predecessor. The outgoing system would require you to exit CarPlay, find your native climate function, make your changes, then rejoin CarPlay. Ultra could streamline that process for less distraction. Furthermore, if the car in question has physical climate, audio, or settings buttons – as all new Aston Martins do – they’ll still work as expected, even with CarPlay Ultra mounted.
There are also the same privacy concerns that exist any time a mobile device comes into play. Your iPhone is constantly collecting data through your daily routines, although Apple says this information is encrypted so that neither the company nor bad actors can access it without your permission. Paranoid types could suspect that your CarPlay Ultra–connected iPhone is keeping track of your driving data – how fast you’re going, how quickly you take corners, how frequently you use launch control or sport mode, et al. But Apple says that its robust cybersecurity protocols in the iPhone itself also extend to CarPlay – both the original and Ultra.
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Still, that driving data is one reason why some manufacturers are abandoning smartphone mirroring programs. General Motors discontinued both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in all of its new EVs introduced from 2023 onwards, preferring to keep its users’ information for itself. That information is valuable; GM has sold OnStar customer information (including vehicle location and speed) to a variety of buyers, and at least one insurance company surreptitiously collected device data to illegally raise rates if it correlates with risky driving. That said, there’s no proof (or even suspicion) that Apple undertakes such anti-consumer behavior with its CarPlay data, especially since it’s encrypted.
Apple CarPlay Versus CarPlay Ultra: Which Is Better?
Unless you’re shopping for a brand-new Aston Martin in the US or Canada, the question of which smartphone integration system to choose is moot. That’s because CarPlay Ultra is only found on the British automaker’s wares sold in those two countries (for now, at least). Aston Martin plans to roll out the new Apple functions to other regions, and if you already own one of the company’s cars, it’s possible it could be compatible with an over-the-air update to CarPlay Ultra. Cars with the latest Aston Martin infotainment system – meaning the 2024–present DB12 and the 2025 Vantage, Vanquish, and DBX – will be eligible for the software upgrade.
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It’s not clear yet what other manufacturers are cooking up the second-generation system, but we presume that rollout might be a little slower than it was back in the mid-2010s. Given it will require some collaboration between Apple and the automakers to ensure compatibility with the gauge cluster, vehicle settings, and HVAC system, the march toward CarPlay Ultra could take some time. Hopefully automakers will offer it as a software update for compatible vehicles, either over the air or at a dealer, just as Aston Martin has.
Source: Apple
