GM’s replacement for CarPlay is due at the end of 2023, but its dealers are in the dark about when that will be and what it will do to sales when buyers figure it out.
It’s hilarious to me that these car companies think consumers will put up with their shitty infotainment just so they can hopefully open a new revenue stream with subscriptions. Consumers are just going to pass over your shit for competitors that do have Carplay/Android Auto.
What’s even worse is GM hired a VP who failed at Apple.
I wish I could fail upwards like that.
Going from VP at Apple to one at GM feels like a proper fail to me.
For the individual it doesn’t matter what the company name is. It matters what they’re paid.
I assume that’s a reference to Mike Abbott, as he’s a software VP at GM and used to work at Apple. He was only hired this year so I don’t see salary data for him, but other “Executive Vice President” positions are paid ~$8.8m as of 2022. No idea what he was paid at Apple, but it’s hard to consider a salary that is likely in the high 7 digits or low 8 digits to be a “proper fail.” If it is, I would love to sign up for this kind of failure.
Me too, me too.
BRB, Resurrecting the aftermarket radio.
Between this bullshit and touchscreen-only controls, I’ve ruled out quite a few models.Especially for new car buyers. It’s a much more iPhone heavy group than the general population.
At least in countries where I’ve lived, there were two expensive phones that are popular: Samsung Galaxy, and iPhones. The only GM could have boned this harder is if they somehow nerfed the experience on Samsung flagships too.
They did, they aren’t supporting car play or android auto
Idiots. This is a “don’t you guys have phones” moment, but about the GM management and I mean it unironically.
My car has CarPlay where my last car didn’t. I’ll tell you now, I won’t get another car without it.
In other word, you might think that 3.99$/month is a good bargain to get CarPlay with futures updates, but look it’s 2.89$/month right now if you subscribe for 2 years!
Please don’t put those evil ideas out into the universe.
BMW already did it
Hmm. I really am struggling trying to predict the outcome here.
On the one hand, we have a ubiquitous FREE interface that is mature and works via your phone (that 99% of people already have and are familiar with with their own custom music playlists) and is updated constantly.
On the other hand, we have a PAID interface that sucks donkey dick in usability with little to no customization or upgrade ability and will need to be managed completely separately from your phone.
The entire executive team should be escorted out of GM headquarters after receiving swirlies.
I predict no car rental companies will buy these cars because renters would demand a different vehicle.
Literally everyone in the world can see this is a braindead play except GM
They’re blinded by dollar signs that won’t come to fruition. Complete brain dead move on their part.
GM has previously said that people who buy a new GM electric vehicle will get access to features such as Google Maps for free — for eight years. After that, GM expects people to subscribe for what they used to get free with CarPlay, and ultimately sees it giving GM a potential $25 billion revenue stream.
My ten year old Chevy Volt just lost connectivity a few months ago because of the 3g phase out, leading me to unsubscribe from Onstar. How many years of subscriptions are GM planning to have before the next network phase out?
And anyone who used GM’s in-dash maps knows they can’t be trusted to keep their products updated lol
Yeah that’s some crap. At that point I’d just have my maps on my phone in the cupholder, no chance in hell I’m paying a subscription for something my phone already does, hands free laws be damned.
As someone who dosn’t have carplay but whose next vehicle will 100% have it. Yeah… as much as I dislike using my phone as a GPS sometimes compared to have android auto or carplay in a work truck there is zero chance of me spending money on any kinda of GPS while google maps exists.
There is ZERO chance I’d buy a car without CarPlay or Android Auto. Why would I buy GM when other manufactures get it right the first time?
I just bought a new car two weeks ago for my college aged son. Android auto/carplay was required to purchase the vehicle. I looked at one that didn’t have it and said hell no. The dealer sighed and said that model had been on the lot for 6 months and nobody would buy it. They were likely going to have to mark it down massively to eventually move it in the next year.
My work truck is a Chevy. If they drop android auto or carplay my fleet manager has told the dealership they will drop them as a supplier. This combined with having 7 trucks in the shop this year for faulty lifters. It’s been a big issue. They are about done with them.
I’ve worked in this space in the past, and unless car manufacturers have significantly improved their UX chops this will go terribly. Further, this just seems like an opportunity for GM to further DLC’ify the car. Generally Android Auto and Car Play would be standard on even the lowest models, but now you might have to pay a monthly subscription to access this
And in addition to their terrible UX, they are also horrible software maintainers. This will definitely rot over time.
Yeah. I definitely prefer Android Auto/CarPlay as a car agnostic interface for media and navigation over any built-in thing.
The presence of Apple CarPlay was a factor in choosing my latest car.
It will go bad. For my own part, I will not buy a car without AA/Carplay. The whole benefit of AA/Carplay is that I can take my infotainment with me and share a car or two without having to mess around with more logins/security etc. Especially with an inferior interface…
Give what the consumers want! Why are they so stupid? I’m assuming they also ditched Android Auto as well right?
Yup. They’re trying to make it to where you subscribe to their “connectivity service,” which is basically paying an additional monthly fee for stuff your phone already does.
I honestly feel like I the perfect window buying a car in 2017.
Massive amounts of features, no subscriptions or connectivity to push software updates.
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Wireless CarPlay is out there now too. I just had a rental car that had it, and it was very neat! It would connect to my phone while still in my pocket, and if I was going for a short trip there was no reason to even pull my phone out. And then if I was going for a longer trip and wanted to charge my phone I could pull it out and plug into USB, and it didn’t interrupt the CarPlay at all. Very cool.
another was annoyed that they had to plug in their phone to activate CarPlay
I suspect that isn’t a current restriction, or it may depend on the car model. I have a car from 2018 where I have to plug in my phone for Android Auto work. That car is in the shop right now and I have a new 2023 loaner, and the loaner’s Android Auto integration connects directly to my phone via Bluetooth as soon as I start the car. Having experienced both now, I know for sure that wireless Android Auto is gonna be on the list of things I want in my next car.
I have a 2016 Kia Soul (stay away Kia Boyz, it’s a push button start!) And have been using this for wireless Android Auto…
… It’s fantastic.
I like my FCA maps better than Apple’s because they licensed them from Garmin.
I still won’t buy a car without CarPlay.
Do people not charge their phones while they drive? I always plug my phone in when I’m in the car. But I’m seeing a lot of people complaining about it.
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Ditching features that consumers desire could lead to lower sales. More at 11.
My first GM vehicle was a C7 Chevrolet Corvette. I wanted it since it was announced in 2014 but held out until 2016 when it finally got CarPlay. I’ve since traded it in for the 2020 C8 Corvette that also has CarPlay. I bought a dongle that enables wireless CarPlay so I don’t even need to plug it in.
I absolutely love my Corvette and would be interested in buying the next generation. However, I will not consider it or any other GM vehicle if CarPlay is dropped. It is a mandatory feature for me.
How well does wireless CarPlay work?
My '21 Malibu had it out of the box. I can’t speak for Car Play, but wireless Android Auto is 95% flawless. There’s that 5% where I get in and the phone won’t connect automatically. But I think it’s an issue on the phone side. I have to unlock the phone then it kicks in.
I find that it works flawlessly in our Mach E. Obviously not a ‘Vette but I think the early wireless CarPlay issues have been worked out.
I recently got a Kia with Android Auto and my Tesla-driving brother is jealous that I can use Google Maps on a big screen, with no extra car mount.
They really should get together and come up with some standard protocol, instead of having cars use proprietary protocols tied to a specific mobile OS.
