3 Car Brands That Offer Apple CarPlay Ultra (Or Plan To Include Access To It Soon)

Apple CarPlay has become a must-have feature for many buyers, and some of the cheapest cars on the market now offer it as standard. In May 2025, Apple began the rollout of its next-generation CarPlay system, CarPlay Ultra, although so far, its availability has been extremely limited. In fact, at the time of writing, only one manufacturer currently offers CarPlay Ultra in its cars, although a couple of others have indicated they plan to add compatibility in future models.

This lack of availability might seem strange given the popularity of the regular CarPlay system, but it's primarily down to the differences between CarPlay and CarPlay Ultra. These differences have proven so divisive among manufacturers that a number of big brands have no plans to offer access to CarPlay Ultra in the future, even if they plan to continue supporting CarPlay. Others have simply refused to comment when asked about plans for integrating the new system.

While CarPlay is mostly limited to a car's infotainment screen, CarPlay Ultra is deeply integrated into its systems. With Ultra, both the infotainment screen and the driver display are controlled by Apple. That includes the car's gauges and dials, controls for core functions like the air conditioning, and seat adjustments — in short, virtually all key functions are handled via Apple's UI.

We put CarPlay Ultra through its paces shortly after its launch and found these changes to be a step forward in some ways and less than impressive in others. While our CarPlay Ultra-equipped Aston Martin responded quickly and smoothly to commands issued via Apple's system, it wasn't infallible. When our reviewer turned their phone off to simulate the device unexpectedly losing power, the system needed to be re-paired with the phone before it could be used again.

CarPlay Ultra also offers drivers the ability to customize the driver display to their liking, with Apple working with individual carmakers to create display options that blend with the car's interior design. Drivers can also view the map on the same screen as the instrument cluster, although only Apple Maps is allowed — Waze and Google Maps are both still relegated to the infotainment screen.

Aston Martin was the first carmaker to offer CarPlay Ultra compatibility in its newest cars, and so far, it remains the only automaker to incorporate the new system. At launch, Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a news release that Ultra will "place Aston Martin at the forefront of infotainment in the sector," and that it was "a clear example of the dedication to collaborate with the best companies in the world."

It isn't the first time that Apple has teamed with a luxury carmaker to debut its latest tech. Back in 2014, Ferrari was one of three automakers that premiered the first version of CarPlay, alongside Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. In its launch announcement for CarPlay, Apple boasted that a long line of automakers planned to include the technology in the future, naming BMW, Toyota, Ford, General Motors, and Nissan, among others. However, the launch press release for CarPlay Ultra struck a different tone, naming only one other major automotive group alongside Aston Martin as definitely committed to Ultra.

Alongside Aston Martin, Apple named Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis as brands that planned to launch CarPlay Ultra eventually. All three brands are owned by the same automaker, the Hyundai Motor Group, with Genesis being the group's luxury line. At the time of the announcement, no further details were given about which Hyundai, Kia, or Genesis models might offer access to CarPlay Ultra.

We reached out to the company for comment during our review of CarPlay Ultra and received a boilerplate response: "Hyundai Motor Group intends to integrate Apple's CarPlay Ultra system. We will disclose further information in the future." Since then, details remain scarce.

In an interview with Top Gear in August, Hyundai Europe CEO Xavier Martinet said the automaker planned to launch the Ioniq 3, a small electric city car that would feature CarPlay Ultra. It was rumored to make its debut at the IAA Mobility show in September. While Hyundai did release the Concept THREE at the show — a small, sporty EV concept that appears to be a preview of the upcoming Ioniq 3 — the release did not mention CarPlay Ultra.

For now, there's still no confirmation of when Kia and Genesis will introduce CarPlay Ultra, or which models might receive it — if it arrives at all. Few details are known about Porsche's eventual plan to adopt Apple's latest system, even though the carmaker confirmed to the Financial Times in June that it was committed to introducing Ultra in the future.

The FT also asked a number of other manufacturers about their adoption plans, with Jaguar Land Rover responding that it was "still evaluating the system." Other carmakers, including Ford and Nissan, gave non-committal responses. It's far from a ringing endorsement of Apple's latest and greatest in-car infotainment system, and it reflects widespread concerns among manufacturers about handing over control of their cars' core functions and systems to Apple. Some automakers have already gone as far as ruling out CarPlay Ultra integration altogether, or even ditching support for CarPlay entirely.

According to the FT's report, Renault warned Apple, "don't try to invade our own systems." Volvo also said it would be skipping CarPlay Ultra, despite being among the earliest manufacturers to offer CarPlay more than a decade ago. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Polestar have also confirmed that they have no plans to integrate the system, although BMW and Audi reiterated that they would continue to support basic CarPlay in future models.

Some carmakers, such as Rivian, have gone a step further and refused to incorporate either CarPlay or CarPlay Ultra. While some users aren't happy with the decision, Rivian's CEO, RJ Scaringe, has refused to budge, saying the company will focus on building its own infotainment system to rival CarPlay's feature set. It isn't just smaller industry players that are rejecting Apple, either, with GM controversially announcing it would phase out support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in 2023.

Whether the rollout of Ultra eventually pushes more carmakers to abandon Apple's systems entirely remains to be seen. Either way, it looks like fans of the Cupertino brand will be waiting a while to get their hands on the latest version of Apple's automotive infotainment system — unless they happen to have the cash to get themselves a shiny new Aston Martin.