GM has placed a risky bet on its ability to beat Apple, the champion of tech usability, at its own game by developing a new smartphone interface for the automaker’s crucial wave of electric vehicles (EVs) — and eliminating Apple’s CarPlay system (and Google’s knockoff Android Auto).
The automaker has developed a new system it says will provide many of the same benefits as CarPlay and Android Auto, while also making it easier for drivers to access other functions, like satellite radio and climate control.
GM has not made the system available for evaluation by outsiders — or even its own dealers, many of whom are concerned.
“CarPlay’s not broken. Why fix it?” asked a source in close contact with multiple GM dealers and who requested anonymity for business concerns. “The risk of failure is very high.”
That’s a common sentiment from dealers and potential customers. Apple CarPlay is available on 98% of new vehicles sold in the United States. People are used to it. They expect the convenience of accessing their contacts, music and more via familiar and reliable controls and commands.
In a recent survey by Consumer Reports, “57 percent of our survey respondents said they were very satisfied with CarPlay compared with a 50 percent satisfaction rating with built-in systems and 44 percent for Android Auto,” the magazine reported.
The GM system will be unable to reach into your iPhone’s contacts list for commands like, “Directions to Carole’s house.”
GM responds that all its owners will have to do is create a contacts list in their Google account.
That’s true but it overlooks the fact that people in practically every new vehicle can already get directions to Carole from their phone. No additional work or new account required.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s simple: GM wants to be able to charge subscriptions ad infinitum for features that CarPlay offers for free. Apple is continually updating CarPlay – for free. Even if they wanted to, which they almost certainly don’t, GM won’t be able to deliver routine updates and improvements, much less match Apple in innovation, user interface design, device integration, etc.
For us, and many, many others, General Motors simply moves even further out of consideration for future purchases (even with CarPlay, GM was never in consideration anyway for myriad reasons).
If GM sticks to this stupidity, it deserves its fate.
See also: Vehicle buyers consider Ford, Toyota, after GM announces Apple CarPlay phaseout – April 14, 2023
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The post GM’s plan to ditch Apple’s CarPlay in favor of its own infotainment system in EVs is a risky move appeared first on MacDailyNews.
