At WWDC in 2013, apple extended the boundary of IOS to the car central control for the first time, and launched a function called "IOS in the car", which is the predecessor of Carplay, which is well-known but rare. At that time, IOS in the car was only a very "crude" technical prototype, and its functions were also very simple, mainly allowing users to use the microphone in the car to use the phone, music, map and information functions of the iPhone in the form of voice It was not until WWDC 2014 a year later that Apple officially released the car machine standard called Carplay
Image source: Apple
Although Carplay has been greatly improved in function and design compared with IOS in the car in the past, and it seems to have more IOS characteristics, at this time, Carplay only occupies a part of the car central control, just like "HDMI 1" in smart TV.
Take the simplest example: when the reverse gear is engaged to activate the reverse image or the turn signal is activated to activate the parallel assistance, the Carplay screen will still be "covered" by the original vehicle system of the vehicle, and the interface elements displayed in some models even when the volume or air conditioning temperature is adjusted will be forcibly covered on the original Carplay interface**
In other words, although consumers recognize Carplay, and even some consumers in some markets give priority to Carplay support when selecting cars, Carplay is still a "icing on the cake" function for OEMs: Yes, but it is just a icing on the cake function, which can be supported without affecting the profit margin.
After all, in the era when the automobile does not emphasize the "intelligent cockpit", the car engine is more "multimedia car engine", and does not participate in the substantive driving link At that time, no car company would put the speedometer, gear shift and other functions into the car machine. Even if you change the central control screen to a tape radio, it will not affect you to drive 400 kilometers at the speed limit
However, with the rise of the concept of "intelligent cockpit", more and more car companies began to plug larger and larger screens into the car, making driving the same as driving GAODA. But Apple However, Carplay has always been based on the traditional vehicle machine system screen design, and Carplay, which once led the trend, is now somewhat retro. So on WWDC 2022, apple gave Carplay's latest answer in the era of digital cockpit - the ultimate "Carplay" that can occupy all the screens of the car.
But in my opinion, Carplay in this new era (hereinafter referred to as new Carplay) seems to be somewhat different from Apple's vision.
What has changed with Carplay 2.0
First of all, let's look at the differences between the old and new Carplay: the old Carplay, as we just said, is a car entertainment system at a lower level than the car entertainment system. But for the new Carplay, its goal is far more than one screen in the central control.
Image source: Apple
In view of the development trend of central control screens with larger and larger sizes and different screen proportions, the new Carplay can actively adapt to different central control screens by dividing the screens, and the elements of the screen interface can be freely combined and switched. In addition, the new Carplay will also occupy the dashboard of the car, which can display the current running status and driving information of the car in different arrangements. Is the interface design of the car's own digital instrument too ugly? Unreasonable arrangement of display information? With the help of the new Carplay, these are no longer problems**
Image source: Apple
In addition, the new Carplay also has new changes at the functional level. Do you still remember the problem that we said before that "the self-contained car machine system will cover the Carplay interface"? Under the new Carplay, users can directly control the vehicle's air conditioning, seat heating and other functions through the new Carplay With the ideal cooperation of the OEMs, the new Carplay has the ability to "sit on an equal footing" with the vehicle engine system for the first time, although this "sit on an equal footing" is limited to a few functions
Image source: Apple
On the positive side, the emergence of the new Carplay has indeed improved the problems that many old Carplay users will encounter when using it. For example, after the new Carplay takes over the air conditioning and other functions, the air conditioning adjustment interface will not forcibly overwrite the original Carplay interface, and the map navigation running in the background will not suddenly darken or even disappear. In addition, the access of more functions to the new Carplay also means that users can control the vehicle by voice. after all, it may be more difficult for some car companies to design a beautiful, durable and stable car machine system than to ask them to design a good car**
But the question arises again. Is it "common progress" or "overstepping", or "attracting wolves into the house" or "drinking doves to quench thirst" to let a "technology digital enterprise" that makes mobile phones and computers help automobile companies design car machine systems?
Who is threatened by Carplay 2.0
For users, "let what you can do if you can't do it" can indeed improve the overall experience, but for car enterprises, outsourcing if you can't do it is tantamount to giving up future development opportunities. First of all, the number and type of vehicle operation data that the new Carplay can get far exceed that of the old Carplay. The vehicle engine is the main user interface of the main engine factory in the era of vehicle networking Although the OEMs can still obtain basic data, if the user's driving habits, common locations and other information are disclosed to "partners" such as the new Carplay, it is not a good thing for car companies with R & D capabilities
Image source: Apple
Therefore, among the car companies supported by the new Carplay on WWDC, BMW, Carplay's "long-term partner", did not appear among them.
In addition, the security risks behind the new Carplay also deserve users' attention. As an iphone User, I really can't relax about the stability of IOS in recent years Under the concept of the new Carplay, the display of key driving information can be separated from the control of the vehicle specification chip and controlled by an external computing device based on the control of the consumer chip. In my opinion, such behavior is completely difficult to understand
Why don't I like Carplay
Although it is said that in addition to the new Carplay, the host manufacturers will certainly have their own vehicle system, with the increasing number of High Authority operations supported by the new Carplay, if there are any problems with the new Carplay, we cannot rule out the possibility that the new Carplay will affect the safe driving of the vehicle. Take the simplest example: if the front window of the new Carplay cannot be opened for demisting on the highway due to various reasons, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Image source: Apple
It is undeniable that in terms of appearance and interaction, the new Carplay has indeed drawn a good cake for users, and according to Apple's past performance, the final presentation effect of the new Carplay must not be bad. However, what the new Carplay really wants to solve is not the problem of whether these systems are easy to use, but the fundamental problem of whether the car companies can cooperate with each other.
Taking the new forces of car making in China as an example, brands like Xiaopeng will build their car engines into the core of their digital cockpit. in the face of the ambitious new Carplay, car companies do not have the need or possibility to open the authority of the dashboard, let alone take the initiative to access the aggressive Internet of vehicles standard such as the new Carplay. Coupled with the restrictions of local laws and regulations, it is always doubtful how much influence the new Carplay can have**
After all, for many drivers, the most easy-to-use car phone is just a Bluetooth stereo that can be connected to a mobile phone. Setting up navigation, a 19.9 yuan mobile phone holder is enough.