GM replaces CarPlay with a dashboard built on Google's car operating system

Drivers took to CarPlay for a plain reason: the same interface came up in any compatible car, with their own apps and contacts, and nothing to port or sign up for ^[24]. The built-in alternatives kept giving them reasons to. MyFord Touch on Ford and Lincoln cars lasted five years, and BMW tried to charge $80 a year for CarPlay access ^[14][15]. Navigation was the recurring complaint, with maps going out of date and updates sometimes costing a fee ^[16].

Even at its best, projection is a layer on top. Standard CarPlay mirrors the phone over the car's own software, and a driver who needs something Apple's system does not support has to back out of it ^[8].

Engadget attributes the removals to control, writing that taking CarPlay out costs the driver convenience and hands the manufacturer more control over data and the services the driver uses ^[7]. GM's stated case is narrower. It argues that its Android Automotive-based system gives its software a much deeper understanding of the vehicle underneath, with navigation as the example ^[6]. The vehicle argument can be checked against a feature list. The data argument runs into the platform choice, since the system GM built to replace Apple's sits on Google's car operating system ^[5].

The two demand figures in Engadget's account do not measure the same group. Apple told WWDC 2022 that 79 percent of car buyers would not choose a model without CarPlay support ^[11]. A more recent survey found that losing CarPlay was a "deal breaker" for 55 percent of its users; Engadget does not name the survey or its sample ^[12][23]. The first counts buyers in general and the second counts people already using the feature, so subtracting one from the other measures nothing ^[21].

Sort in-car sessions by what each one needed. A session that needed only a screen, like audio or messaging, is the kind projection carried, and it moves to whatever the car's own operating system will run. A session that needed the vehicle itself was never reachable through standard CarPlay in the first place ^[8].

The timing differs by drivetrain. Because the change lands by model year and cars already sold keep the feature, the projected audience thins one sales cohort at a time ^[4]. GM's gas models hold projection for roughly two more years, counting from the 2026 removals Engadget describes to the platform release it puts around 2028 ^[19].