Apple CarPlay coming to rival Tesla

[Zoidz]

The RISC architecture is going to change everything.

Yep, that's what I was eluding to with the head in the sand. Nvidia shipped 1 billion RISC cores in 2024. ARM partners shipped 30 billion ARM chips. AMD has multiple ARM based development projects in the works. I run WIndows ARM on my MacBook using Parallels. Intel is still trying to figure out how to spell RISC. There are estimates of about 300 million x86 chips shipped in 2024. The writing has been on the wall for several years, x86 is in its sunset years.

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[skyguyscott]

I love these fascinating threads.

So if you're old like me, you might remember a consumer product format called Betamax, developed by a little company called Sony. It's a very long story filled with passion, high stakes, blackmail, espionage, intrigue, and yes, even sex, but skipping all the good parts to the end, back around 1988 or so, Sony published a big multi page glossy ad in the major consumer rags; the first page in big bold type proclaimed "When it comes to VHS, Sony says NEVER, NEVER, NEVER..." and then when you turn the page, "has there been a better VHS player, introducing the Sony SLV555..."

But here's the thing, the truth is Betamax, and SuperBeta really were measurably better, marginally, then VHS and super VHS. But even the once mighty Sony, arguably at the top of its game at that time, eventually had to concede to the market.

Now, if I were to give advice to RJ, which is a ridiculous thought, I would say OK, maybe you have a superior stack, especially in its integration to the vehicle, but you might be wise to swallow a bit of that pride before you choke on it and get a few guys working on a way to integrate CarPlay into your stack. You may never have to release it, but it's good to have a back up, and you never know you might discover or uncover some really serendipitous things in the process. History is replete with stories of better mouse traps buried by mouse traps that were "good enough."

I agree that Tesla is doing this as an act of desperation. I can't be certain, but I would wager that history will show that Elon's entrance into politics alienated his customer base and marked a major turning point for the Tesla brand. All the other headwinds discussed here are true, but they apply equally across the market, and none rise to the level of a fatal flaw like Elon's behavior does.

In the 1990s, vehicle sales often hung on the number of cupholders(!) a car had. Like it or not, Apple CarPlay is this decade's cupholder. Should Rivian embrace or make allowances for Apple CarPlay, it will not be the salvation of that brand, but it may get a lot more people into the tent and the internal competition with Apple may propel Rivian's software guys to greater Heights.

Ironically, Apple at its core (heh) isn't really a software, but a hardware company. Yes, it has a great OS that puts the end user experience front and center, but it has a history of developing great software only to abandon it at some point in the future, because the software only really exists to sell the hardware.

 

[RivianRiverRat]

The RISC architecture is going to change everything.

Not much info out there but for those interested in a little bit of history
Fairchild Semiconductors
Intergraph
Intel

 

[HaveBlue]

Maybe Rivian can spend a billion or two to buy VWs CP/AA Implementation. Maybe that will satisfy about half the owners of which I don't care, the existing maps works fine. While they're at it though, VW cars are off when they are off and don't vampire drain 30% battery per month. Buy that billion dollar tech from them too and I vote yes.

 

[SwampNut]

Do your own research.

I did, thanks for the idea. I’ve learned a lot.

The earth is flat.

The moon landing was faked. However I bet it was faked by Stanley Kubrick, and that guy is a stickler for details. I bet he faked it on site.

Birds aren’t real. https://birdsarentreal.com/

Intel x86 is making a comeback.

 

[Zoidz]

Intel x86 is making a comeback.

Commodore is also making a comeback, so I guess the 65xx forever? Yes, you can play Prince of Persia again!

 

[Zoidz]

Microsoft has made a public statement that they recognize the Hot Mess WIndows has become.

NEOWIN.NET - Microsoft: We see all the backlash and we know we have a lot to fix in Windows

"A couple of days ago, Microsoft's Windows chief Pavan Davaluri received a lot of backlash when he shared plans regarding Windows evolving as an "agentic OS". The executive's words hinted at an AI-powered experience that would boost productivity. However, people were not happy with this direction, complaining that there are a lot of other more important things that are unbaked in the OS and deserve attention. It got to the point that the executive had to disable replies on their original X (formerly Twitter) post."

"I've read through the comments and see focus on things like reliability, performance, ease of use and more. But I want to spend a moment just on the point you are making, and I’ll boil it down, we care deeply about developers. We know we have work to do on the experience, both on the everyday usability, from inconsistent dialogs to power user experiences."

And these are the types of responses on X,:

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Microsoft has made a public statement that they recognize the Hot Mess WIndows has become.

NEOWIN.NET - Microsoft: We see all the backlash and we know we have a lot to fix in Windows

"A couple of days ago, Microsoft's Windows chief Pavan Davaluri received a lot of backlash when he shared plans regarding Windows evolving as an "agentic OS". The executive's words hinted at an AI-powered experience that would boost productivity. However, people were not happy with this direction, complaining that there are a lot of other more important things that are unbaked in the OS and deserve attention. It got to the point that the executive had to disable replies on their original X (formerly Twitter) post."

"I've read through the comments and see focus on things like reliability, performance, ease of use and more. But I want to spend a moment just on the point you are making, and I’ll boil it down, we care deeply about developers. We know we have work to do on the experience, both on the everyday usability, from inconsistent dialogs to power user experiences."

We will see if there is any actual follow through on this. It’s no secret that Apple kicks Microsoft’s ass in usability and stability. Part of it is the closed ecosystem but the bigger part is laziness and poor decisions by the Microsoft team who are more focused on adding features nobody asked for and few people want, but they can charge a subscription for, than making their base OS work properly.

 

[SwampNut]

We will see if there is any actual follow through on this. It’s no secret that Apple kicks Microsoft’s ass in usability and stability. Part of it is the closed ecosystem but the bigger part is laziness and poor decisions by the Microsoft team who are more focused on adding features nobody asked for and few people want, but they can charge a subscription for, than making their base OS work properly.

All accurate, and I'd add one more top-level item. Old-think, and coddling fearful users who don't want to change/upgrade/modernize. Like the many conversations we have here about modern car tech, the stupid buttons on most cars, and just the general human fear of change. Apple says "Fuck you it's 2025 and you can't have your paper calendar skeuomorph any more!" (Seriously people lost their minds when Apple changed from a visual paper calendar to a modern interface.) Microsoft lets them stay in the 90s, which has two massive problems. One is having to keep old code around, and bloating the product and UI with potential bugs. The other is simply letting users keep falling behind and never really modernizing.

 

[atebit]

It was never about implementation difficulties; it was about forcing users into their closed tech ecosystem.

…each with app stores full of infotainment enabled apps…

 

[White Shadow]

I've said it repeatedly---any car company who refuses to equip their vehicles with the ability to have AA/CP is going to lose customers simply because there are lots of people who refuse to buy new vehicles without AA/CP capabilities.

Good for Tesla to finally smarten up if this info is true.

 

[rjcarlson49]

I am an Apple only person, fully invested in the Apple ecosystem. However, I'm mystified by the demand for CP. I've used it on my son in laws car and on various rentals and it's an extremely annoying experience. When I'm navigating somewhere in Google Maps in CP (never warmed up to Apple Maps) I cannot use Maps on my phone for other important things like finding a Starbucks. And the CP version of Maps just doesn't have a good UI.

And while we're at it, once you have linked your phone to the car why do you need apps like Spotify on the car?

-Bob

 

[SwampNut]

And while we're at it, once you have linked your phone to the car why do you need apps like Spotify on the car?

You don't.

I cannot use Maps on my phone for other important things like finding a Starbucks.

I don't use Google Maps, too many issues and annoyances. But I certainly DO use Apple maps on both the phone and CP together.

And the CP version of Maps just doesn't have a good UI.

The primary point of this is being able to use voice to tell it to find the nearby place with overpriced crappy coffee.

 

[hudesigns]

To have CarPlay should never be about to compete with Tesla system. It’s simply a portal to your phone so you don’t have to fiddle with it while driving. You know vast amount of realtime info on your phone: texts and calls you blocked, group texts, google map coordinates friends just sent, hundreds of POI saved on google map, ABRP Waze google map you want to cross reference. Local Library audio books via Libby. Podcasts you’ve been listening on train or in bed. Once in your Tesla podcast will start where you left off. Qobuz for music. All apps should behave EXACTLY like on your phone because it’s where you use most with bookmarks favorites playlists. Tons of other things you do on your phone. Just a portal to your phone, that’s it. Tesla native system will still be excellent at same time.

 

[SwampNut]

You know vast amount of realtime info on your phone

Exactly. I leverage all of the sync services possible so my two computers, phone, iPad, and everything else always has everything. No reason I can't have my books, podcasts, and everything else always be everywhere. It's ultra dumb that I can't just get into the Rivian and have it say "would you like to navigate to your hair appointment?"

(I mean, I can, now, because I added CP.)

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