What is the difference between Apple CarPlay and CarPlay Ultra?

Apple CarPlay brings the iOS experience you know, along with your apps and media, to your car’s dashboard. And even though some automakers have abandoned CarPlay, it remains widely available in many vehicles.

What you may not know is that there are two versions of CarPlay: the standard version you’re probably familiar with and CarPlay Ultra. They theoretically share the same base, but CarPlay Ultra goes much further. Instead of just the infotainment screen, it can control more aspects of your car. Not only that, but it is also highly customizable. Unfortunately, Ultra isn’t widely available yet, but we hope to see it in more cars soon.

The well-known basic version of CarPlay was introduced in 2014 with iOS 7.1. You simply connect your iPhone to your car via USB or wireless, and the dashboard screen displays a simplified iOS-like layout designed for the car. CarPlay makes it much easier to access apps on your device without distractions.

However, not all apps work; those available are primarily focused on browsing, streaming, and messaging. With just a few clicks or Siri queries, you can stream your Apple Music playlists or start a route in Maps. It’s much more convenient (and safer) than having to pick up your phone all the time.

But CarPlay has some limitations. Because it’s not deeply integrated into your car’s system, you may need to exit CarPlay to change some of the car’s native features that also use the screen. Depending on your car, this may include actions such as changing driving modes or even adjusting the air conditioning. This adds a few extra steps to common tasks, making it more dangerous while driving.

In 2022, Apple announced an ambitious expansion for CarPlay: instead of being limited to a single screen, CarPlay would now be present on all the screens in your car. That’s what CarPlay Ultra is. As well as displaying apps, it also manages key aspects of your car such as the speedometer and fuel gauge. It even lets you customize them, like in a racing video game.

Vehicle controls like climate control and radio are also integrated into CarPlay Ultra, so you never have to leave the interface. It really feels like you’re using an automotive system entirely designed by Apple.

It sounds too good to be true, but there is a catch. While CarPlay is available in over 800 vehicle models, CarPlay Ultra is a different story. You can only find it in luxury Aston Martins at the moment, and only in the US and Canada. Porsche also announced support for CarPlay Ultra, but that day never came. It’s unclear exactly what happened, but perhaps the automakers were afraid of ceding full control to Apple. You’ll need an iPhone 12 or later to take advantage of the new CarPlay experience, and it only works wireless.

Apple mentioned that CarPlay Ultra would eventually be available in more cars. But from what we’ve seen, it looks like this expansion will take even longer.