Apple CarPlay Shifts Into High Gear For 2024, New AirPods Inbound Too

After giving up on the idea of making an entire car, Apple now appears to be focused on making sure they still get a piece of the automotive market with CarPlay in 2024. According the Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, Apple is currently working on an updated version of CarPlay that the company hopes will help it better compete with Google’s Android Automotive.

Reportedly, the new version of CarPlay still runs on a user’s iPhone instead of being a fully integrated operating system. According to Gurman, the company made this choice because “Apple hopes it can win over users and automakers with a slicker interface and greater customization.” This also feels like a win for consumers as upgrading your phone is a lot more common than upgrading your car.

Unfortunately, it seems as if not many vehicle manufacturers are jumping at the chance to support this new version of CarPlay. Gurman says that so far only two car makers have officially announced support, Porsche and Aston Martin. This isn’t going to help with gaining any mass market appeal as the cars these two companies appeal to only a select group of affluent customers. Apple has a lot of work to do if it wants to have any kind of broad foothold in the more mainstream car market.


AirPods will also be important for Apple in 2024. There will be two tiers available to choose from, an entry-level model and a mid-tier model says Gurman. It seems as if the mid-tier model will differentiate itself with the inclusion of noise cancellation and the ability to make sound when the Find My feature is activated by a user. Meanwhile, the AirPods Pro will remain as the highest tier available.