- Apple reveals additional details about CarPlay updates next week
- Rumors suggest that iOS 26 will bring design changes
- Increased accessibility features have so far been revealed
Apple will notify some updates to its CarPlay Infotainment Software on its WWDC 2025 event next week, with the next big iOS release scheduled to include a number of changes in the car.
Apple has been relatively slow with releasing CarPlay updates in recent years, with only the addition of an additional series of icons that appear to those lucky enough to sport huge, portrait infotainment screens in their vehicles.
It seems that CarPlay Ultra, who is expanding the CarPlay experience to Driver Display and was recently announced by Aston Martin, has been the focus of the California Tech Gigant’s attention.
But next week (specifically Monday, June 9), could bring some welcome news to those of us to do with good old -fashioned CarPlay as Apple is joked to be refreshing appearance on its operating system across all devices with iOS 26, including those tied to a vehicle’s main unit.
Details remain scarce, but MacRumors reports that the new UI will contain a more “glass-like, Vision-OS-Inspired Design” along with some new accessibility features, such as the possibility of activating a large text setting and expansion of audio recognition to CarPlay.
This feature was launched with iOS 18 last year and can warn passengers or drivers who are deaf or hard to listen to horns or sirens outside the car, as well as discover babies crying inside the vehicle, highlighting this with a review on screen.
Analysis: New Designs are neat but Ultra Nails UX
While the introduction of an overall design change and some new accessibility features are probably just the tip of the Apple CarPlay update Iceberg, it is difficult to see how further adjustments can better what the company has achieved with CarPlay Ultra.
Finally, the system allows the kind of control over key car functionality (without having to leave the CarPlay ecosystem) that many drivers have required for years.
Porsche introduced a kind of CarPlay Ultra-Lite with the launch of his new Macan, but Aston Martin is the first to waive full control of his digital screens, including them in front of the driver.
Purists will argue that Aston may have lost a particular charm with the disappearance of beautiful, towel -clipped analog binnacles, but it is difficult to get away from the ease of use of CarPlay Ultra’s UI.
The ability to show the mapping of your choice in glorious resolution before the driver’s eyes are a delight and the possibility of fine -tuning the vehicle’s security settings without leaving CarPlay just makes sense.
Without the carmaker’s permissions, it will be very difficult for Apple to implement these kinds of features in any future generic CarPlay update. But we know that like Hyundai, Kia, Renault, Porsche and Ford everyone are in line to receive CarPlay Ultra in the near future.
Let’s just hope Apple reveals some juicy CarPlay user experience features to compensate for the fact that we can’t all afford new, expensive cars. Keep an eye on our full WWDC 2025 coverage next week.
