RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from 9to5Mac — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 2 sourcesGo to the 9to5Mac home page Switch site 9to5Toys 9to5Google Logo 9to5Google Electrek Drone DJ Logo DroneDJ Space Explored About Privacy Toggle social menu Toggle dark mode Search for: Submit Toggle search form Forums Store Podcasts Apple@Work Happy Hour 9to5Mac Daily Overtime iPhone iPhone Mac Mac MacBook Pro MacBook Air iMac Mac mini Mac Studio Mac Pro iPad iPad Pro iPad Air iPad mini iPad iPadOS Watch Apple Watch Apple Watch Ultra Apple Health Apple Watch SE Vision Vision Pro visionOS Music and TV Apple Music AirPods HomePod Apple TV Guides Reviews How Tos AAPL Apple Store Apple Arcade Apple Card Apple Silicon Apple One Apple Fitness+ CarPlay Siri HomeKit Toggle dark mode CarPlay These automakers still don’t support CarPlay, here's why Chance Miller | Aug 7 2026 - 12:14 pm PT 0 Comments CarPlay is a must-have for the majority of car buyers, but three major automakers don’t support the platform. Here’s the latest on why Tesla, Rivian, and GM continue to resist CarPlay — and whether there's any chance they change their approach.
Tesla was a CarPlay holdout before it was “cool.” The automaker has never supported CarPlay in its vehicles, opting instead to focus on its own infotainment software.
There are rumors, however, that Tesla is changing its tune. In November 2025, Bloomberg reported that Tesla was actively working on CarPlay support and that it could launch “in the coming months.”
So far, this hasn’t come to fruition. In February, Mark Gurman gave an update on the situation. According to Gurman, Tesla and Apple were working together on making changes to Apple Maps to improve the experience when using Apple Maps and Tesla’s autonomy features.
Apple seems to have shipped that necessary change as part of iOS 26.4 , and showcased it in a developer session in June. The status of Tesla’s CarPlay implementation remains unknown as of right now.
If it does launch, Tesla is expected to feature CarPlay as a “window inside its broader interface.” So it won’t completely take over the in-car experience, but rather exist alongside Tesla’s software.
Likely inspired by Tesla, Rivian is another major CarPlay holdout — and it seemingly has no plans to change its stance anytime soon. Rivian executives, including CEO RJ Scaringe, have repeatedly and emphatically said the automaker has no plans to have CarPlay.
Scaringe’s reasoning is that customers shouldn’t have to bounce between Rivian’s infotainment system and CarPlay. Instead, they should be able to do everything natively via Rivian’s platform.
Last October, Scaringe said the following in an interview:
“We’ve made the decision, which I’m very confident about, that in the fullness of time, customers will appreciate, which is that we wanted to have a seamless digital experience. To not have the need to jump between CarPlay, which feels obviously like CarPlay, and so it feels the same in every car, and then what we create as a Rivian environment.”
Scaringe doubled down earlier this year, saying it’s “very difficult to create consistency across all the different platforms.”
Most recently, Rivian software chief Wassym Bensaid went as far as to say the automaker believes AI will make CarPlay “completely obsolete” in the future. “The possibilities now for such deep AI integration in the car make the entire CarPlay debate completely obsolete,” Bensaid said.
If you’re holding out hope Rivian might add CarPlay support, I’d say chances are very, very slim.
Perhaps the most frustrating of any story here is GM. The GM CarPlay saga began in March 2023, when the automaker announced it was ditching CarPlay in all of its future EVs. At the time, the company tried to justify the decision by saying it would be able to improve the charging and autonomous driving capabilities, including capturing more data around how drivers use those features.
GM has spent the three years since that announcement defending its decision, including trying to argue that removing CarPlay improved driver safety.
Here’s a quote from GM Chief Product Officer Sterling:
“But frankly, it’s a very Jobsian approach to things. The removal of the disk drive, nobody liked that, everybody on the forums and Facebook was complaining about it, but to that he said, ‘Look, guys, flash storage really is the future. Get on board, you’ll see that.’ That’s kind of what we’re saying here, in fact that’s exactly what we’re saying.”
Last year, GM doubled down again. The automaker announced its plans to “gradually” drop support for CarPlay and Android Auto from future gas cars as well.
Personally, CarPlay is a must-have feature for me. I see no reason any of these automakers shouldn’t offer CarPlay as an option, while continuing to improve their own infotainment system. I should be able to pick whichever platform I think is best for me.
What do you think? Is CarPlay still a must-have? Would you buy a Rivian, Tesla, or GM car without CarPlay? Let us know down in the comments.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:
Expand Close comments Expand Close comments Guides CarPlay CarPlay is a smarter, safer way to use your iPho…
Chance is the editor-in-chief of 9to5Mac, overseeing the entire site's operations. He also hosts the 9to5Mac Daily and 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcasts.
You can send tips, questions, and typos to [email protected].
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.