New Apple CarPlay Ultra Connectivity Suite Debuts With Aston Martin

Global tech giants Apple released a new, highly sophisticated and much more immersive version of its Apple CarPlay in-car connectivity last night. Called Apple CarPlay Ultra, British luxury sportscar marque Aston Martin has elected to be the first brand to feature this tech in its models.

The debut of Apple CarPlay Ultra somewhat mirrors how the original Apple CarPlay suite first arrived to market – it first appeared in the Ferrari FF back in 2014. Supercar brand affiliations aside, there’s indeed much to look forward to from Apple’s most immersive in-car tech yet.

For starters, Apple CarPlay Ultra in the Aston Martin DBX occupies both the central infotainment touchscreen and digital instrument panel.

For starters, Apple CarPlay Ultra dramatically expands on screen space occupation. In the case of the Aston Martin DBX super-SUV featured, the tech now enters both the car’s native digital instrument display panel and the central infotainment touchscreen simultaneously.

In turn, users can now have maps or media displayed alongside the rev counter and speedo. Users can also select one of several designs for the instrument panel, along with personalised colours, backgrounds, as well as screen layouts.

Besides customisable layouts, colours and background, Apple CarPlay Ultra grants direct control over native vehicle function like the climate and audio control. These can also be controlled using Siri.

Additionally, native vehicle functions like climate and audio controls are now accessible directly via the CarPlay interface – users need not exit CarPlay back to the vehicle’s native infotainment menu screen for this. Moreover, these functions can be controlled using Siri voice command too.

As for availability, the new Apple CarPlay Ultra suite is available starting today for new Aston Martin vehicle orders in North America (United States and Canada) for now. Availability in other marques wasn’t disclosed but is widely expected to happen in the coming months.

Whilst present through Aston Martin in North America for now, Apple CarPlay Ultra is expected to be available across more brands and other market regions within this year.

In addition, existing Aston Martin owners with vehicle models primed with the brand’s next-gen infotainment system will receive the new experience via an over-the-air (OTA) software update in the coming weeks. Included here are the DB12, DBX707, as well as the latest-gen Vantage.

Of course, like any new programme or software (or app, if you prefer), there are minimum system requirements to run it. In the case of Apple CarPlay Ultra, besides requiring the Aston Martin models mentioned, you’ll need an iPhone 12 or newer running iOS 18.54 and later.