If you’ve ever cursed at a car’s laggy touchscreen, welcome to the small miracle that is Apple CarPlay. Ten years after it arrived, CarPlay quietly fixed one of the worst parts of buying a new car: the infotainment lottery. Instead of wrestling with slow, badly designed native systems, your iPhone projects a tidy, familiar layout onto the dash. Navigation, music, phone calls and messages all work the way you expect—seamless, reliable, and free. Millions of drivers treat it like a built-in feature, even though it’s just your phone doing the heavy lifting.

But that cozy arrangement is under threat. In a recent interview, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the company plans to phase out support for both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across its line-up as it leans into its own in-car software strategy. That isn’t an overnight flip—Barra framed it as a gradual move tied to major platform updates—but it marks a major shift: one of America’s biggest automakers is trying to take the dashboard back from your phone.

Related /

• GM replacing Android Auto and CarPlay with Gemini-powered AI system
• Apple adds AirPlay video support to CarPlay in iOS 26
• Apple adds iPhone-like widgets to CarPlay with iOS 26
• Apple’s CarPlay Ultra arrives with full-screen widgets and Siri control

Why a carmaker would ditch something drivers love

There are three big reasons GM and other automakers are moving this way.

First, control. A native, OEM-run system gives the manufacturer full access to the dashboard as product real-estate: the navigation stack, the media apps, the climate controls, the diagnostics and—crucially—the data those systems generate. Automakers increasingly see software and data as recurring-revenue engines, not one-time sales. GM’s push toward a unified, software-defined vehicle platform is explicit: the company is building deeper voice assistants, native apps, and over-the-air update infrastructure to keep cars feeling fresh long after the sale.

Second, integration. When the infotainment is the car’s software, features can link more deeply with vehicle systems: charging, ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems), and the car’s own safety stacks. GM argues this gives a faster, safer experience than phone projection. Early hands-on reports with some GM EVs’ native software praise the speed and polish, even while noting—fairly—that it’s not CarPlay and that some popular Apple apps are absent.

Third, money. Give drivers everything through the car, and you can bill for it. That’s already happening. GM’s OnStar and connected-services plans now break out pay tiers for app access, Wi-Fi and advanced features; some OnStar bundles start at around $9.99–$19.99 per month, with broader bundles and safety/ADAS services costing considerably more. Turning features that used to be free (or phone-based) into subscription options is a clear revenue play.

You won’t miss a literal feature overnight—but expect the sticker shock later

GM has been cautious in its messaging: if your current car has CarPlay or Android Auto, it will keep working. The practical impact is for future refreshes and new platforms—especially the next generation of GM’s software-defined architecture expected later in the decade—when older phones-as-interfaces are no longer the design reference. But once a major line of new models ships without phone projection, that convenience becomes optional at best for many buyers.

When the iPhone used to win these fights, it was because Apple focused on user experience. Now car companies fret that handing the whole user experience to Apple (or Google) turns the automaker into “rolling hardware,” with limited control and limited upside. Apple’s own roadmap—including a deeper “CarPlay Ultra” that could command even more of the car’s functions—only heightens that threat. If Apple ends up controlling HVAC or charge management because the phone is running the dash, what value is left to the manufacturer? Those are not hypothetical worries for firms trying to capture subscription revenue and telematics data.

The data: drivers do, in fact, care about CarPlay

This isn’t just nostalgia. Multiple industry studies show that smartphone integration is a dominant preference among buyers. McKinsey found that a large share of people who have CarPlay or Android Auto use them regularly and that the majority prefer phone projection to OEM systems. AutoPacific’s annual Future Attribute Demand Study also ranks wireless CarPlay/Android Auto high on the “must-have” list for new-car intenders. In short, consumers prize the convenience and predictability of their phone interface.

So why are automakers willing to risk alienating buyers? Partly because a new generation of EV-native manufacturers—Tesla and Rivian among them—never adopted CarPlay in the first place. These companies have built their customers’ expectations around their own software experiences instead. Rivian’s CEO has publicly defended skipping CarPlay as part of an AI-forward vision; Tesla has long relied on its proprietary system. That gives incumbents a model: build your own software stack, keep control, and try to make it sticky.

The subscription problem

If the car is no longer just a product but a platform, purchases aren’t one-and-done. Connectivity and convenience features—navigation, remote-start, remote-unlock, Wi-Fi, in-vehicle streaming and sometimes even climate pre-conditioning—are increasingly tied to subscriptions. Kia’s and Toyota’s connected services, for example, show several tiers that unlock remote commands and cloud navigation for annual or monthly fees; the numbers vary by brand and market, but the model is the same: the OEM controls the features and the wallet.

You’re probably already paying in small ways. GM’s OnStar quietly bundles basic safety and a modest app tier for a limited period, then asks drivers to upgrade for full app access, Wi-Fi, or advanced safety and ADAS functionality. Those charges add up—$9.99 a month for a basic app bundle, $19.99 for more, and higher for Super Cruise/advanced bundles—so while CarPlay itself is free, the alternative can become a new line item on your card.

What this means for buyers (and what to do)

If you’re shopping for a car in the next few years, plan for complexity.

• Don’t assume Apple CarPlay will be standard forever. If that feature matters, confirm that the trim and market you’re buying in include it—and that automakers aren’t planning to remove it in a near-term software refresh. GM has said the change will be gradual, not immediate, but the direction is clear.
• Test the native software. A slick demo in a showroom is not the same as real-world use. Try navigation, media streaming, and voice commands. See whether your essential apps—Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Waze—are available natively, or whether you’ll be pushed toward OEM or third-party subscriptions.
• Price the subscriptions. Ask dealers for the connected-services pricing in your market. Some functions will be free for a trial period; others require a subscription right away. Factor those recurring fees into the true cost of ownership.
• Consider the aftermarket. Small companies already sell adapters and boxes that add CarPlay/Android Auto to vehicles that lack it—if you want to force the issue, there are hardware workarounds (at a cost). But these solutions are band-aids and won’t integrate with car-level controls.

Bigger picture: who wins?

There’s a turf war underway between Silicon Valley and Detroit, and between different visions of the same future. Apple and Google want your attention—and your steering wheel—because controlling the car interface is a powerful position for any platform company. Automakers want to be more than suppliers of hardware; they want ongoing customer relationships and recurring revenue. Neither side is wrong; they’re just playing for different payoffs.

What matters to most drivers is simple: useful, dependable tech that doesn’t distract or nickel-and-dime them into paying for features they expect to be standard. For now, CarPlay is that thing. If you like it, enjoy it. The dashboard is about to become a more complicated shopping list.