Report: Tesla Working Towards Adopting Apple CarPlay

It appears that Tesla could soon reportedly backtrack on its policy to not adopt and support Apple CarPlay.

It looks like American EV-making ‘disruptors’ Tesla are set to backtrack on one of its key policies – one that many owners and prospectors alike might welcome warmly. According to a recent report by Bloomberg via Reuters, the automaker could finally adopt and support Apple CarPlay in its vehicles soon.

This is indeed unprecedented given the marque’s steadfast direction to not adopt said proprietary smartphone mirroring interface from the American tech mammoth. Citing sources “close to the matter,” Bloomberg further reports that Tesla recently began actively developing support for which.

Apple CarPlay with an all-new look previewed this year. This will be the tech's visual aesthetic via iOS 26.

Whilst this is good news for Apple users who also own or have access to Tesla vehicles, the same can’t be said about Android Auto – the direct rival to Apple CarPlay developed by rivals Google. There seems to be no signs yet if Tesla will adopt this tech, which is also proprietary.

Whilst Apple has made a push for greater ‘takeover’ of a vehicle’s native infotainment and digital displays through its trick Apple CarPlay Ultra, many carmakers have pushed back from adopting said higher-end version of the software. Many instead choose to keep their respective systems in control.

Apple CarPlay Ultra pictured. Though more immersive, many other carmakers are shying away from which.

In lieu of which, Tesla is reportedly set to integrate the regular version of Apple CarPlay into its vehicles’ ecosystem in a slightly different manner – in will run in its own window within the marque’s broader interface where it won’t replace the entire system as it does in many rivalling vehicle makes and models.

This, of course, makes sense as the native Tesla vehicle operating system doesn’t just control the infotainment, it also controls the entire vehicle. Perhaps this level of ‘isolation’ is the only compromise Tesla is willing to make, especially considering stagnant and slowed sales of the marque’s offerings of late.

Sources close to the matter indicate Tesla is already working on adopting Apple CarPlay, though no roll-out date was disclosed.

Latest 2026 Proton Saga (MC3) pictured. One key headline from its debut is its adoption of wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

One study reported online even indicates that 25% of EV buyers and 38% of combustion (ICE) car buyers will refuse to purchase a vehicle if it lacks support for any smartphone mirroring tech.

From a local standpoint, we’ll even point out that national automaker Proton took great efforts to adopt the tech not just for its Geely-based offerings. In fact, the recent debut of the fourth-gen Proton Saga entry-level sedan saw its adoption of both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – wirelessly too, if we might add – serve as a stand-out headline. 

Back to Tesla and, for now, it’s unclear when it plans to roll the tech out – likely via one of its many regular over-the-air (OTA) software updates. What is though is the fact that Tesla is finally bucking its own trend to embrace a feature that many motorists today heavily rely on, especially for navigation.