Agentic Siri will be great for Apple CarPlay, but could signal the end for CarPlay Ultra.

If the Gemini-powered version of Siri is as good as we all hope it is, it will be a great win for CarPlay. Most CarPlay owners would love a proper Siri that can listen to its commands for multimedia, maps, messages, etc. There’s nothing better than asking Siri to navigate to the closest grocery store in order to get some emergency diapers, snacks, etc. without having to touch your phone and take your eyes off the road. Another great benefit would be to talk to a Siri chatbot if you’re driving alone and need someone to help you stay awake.

Of course there would be many more features, and they should be done reliably.

CarPlay Ultra on the other hand is designed to give the user more control over the car’s core functions such as HVAC settings, seat settings, and even Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) such as cameras, radar, and sensors through a car projection system on your iPhone. It’s a custom layout that allows you to choose from several custom “skins” that the manufacturer has worked with Apple to design. This is on top of the default layout the car manufacturer already has built-in, so essentially you would have to learn two different UI systems and build two muscle memory systems…for operating your car.

Needless to say, that kind of control is risky and glitches in that department could lead to severe consequences, including death. No manufacturer is comfortable with handing this kind of control over to Apple except Aston Martin, and that could just be because Aston is desperate to sell anything at this point.

Many car makers, including Rivian, are going towards an Agentic approach with their car controls, where the driver can simply ask the car to change settings without having to worry about their phone’s connectivity status since it’s all built-in and seamless. CarPlay Ultra on the other hand is not as seamless as the rest of Apple’s ecosystem.

Let’s not forget - most car manufacturers who said they would support CarPlay Ultra probably had to cancel those plans without officially confirming anything since they’re reconsidering their EV car lineup. Now that EV tax incentives are gone, manufacturers have pivoted back to ICE vehicles once again, and in a big way. Forget batteries, give us the big ole’ V8 trucks cause this is ‘Murica! We don’t care about increasing gas prices either!

Even if EVs were still a popular trend that kept on going, the rise of agentic AI and more advanced models coming out every time you take a sip of that mocha Grande macchiato latte means car manufacturers can provide a better experience without needing a 3rd party user interface taking over. It just doesn’t make sense for newer more advanced vehicles to rely on a tethered phone to get the best features.

Older cars with CarPlay however can retroactively get more advanced AI features that are reliable in their limited multimedia capacity.

CarPlay Ultra is going to be no more, but CarPlay still lives on.