Huge Apple CarPlay update revealed: Siri AI, improved maps, audio player and more

Apple CarPlay has just received a huge upgrade in the form of iOS27. The latest update for the tech giant’s smartphone mirroring software includes expanded hands-free capabilities, as well improvements to Apple Maps and audio playback.

The headline feature of this latest version of CarPlay, and iOS in general, is the all-new Siri AI virtual assistant. Available in Beta guise later this year, Siri AI will be accessible via the voice assistant button on your car’s steering wheel and will benefit from greater personal context understanding and the ability to perform system wide actions.

In plain English, this means that, unlike the old Siri, this new version will be able to understand exactly what it is you’re asking or referencing and execute commands across a variety of different apps without you having to take your eyes off the road. For example, if you ask Siri what your partner asked you to buy on the way home from work, Siri will be able to analyse your conversations, find out what it is you’re asking for and even set a reminder for you. 

Or, if you want to take a diversion on your route home from work, you can ask Siri AI to add a stop at your friend’s house, with the software able to analyse any contact info you might have and plug it into your chosen navigation app autonomously.

All of this, the Californian firm says, utilises its ‘Private Cloud Compute’ data infrastructure which means any personal requests and data are stored on-device and aren’t accessible by Apple. It will also be delivered with a new customisable Siri voice which has been designed to sound more realistic than ever.

That’s not all, as while Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) presentation largely focused on its new AI features, we also noticed a few references of further features coming to CarPlay. Firstly, Apple says that its Maps software will now feature “improved navigation heading and GPS accuracy”, meaning you’ll always know exactly which direction you’re currently headed in.

Furthermore, a new audio miniplayer in CarPlay will allow for audio scrubbing (in other words, the ability to touch and drag to skip to a certain part of a track) right from your car’s touchscreen. Finally, Apple is promising an improvement in wireless reliability for CarPlay – handy for those that sometimes have the connection disrupted between their phone and the car.

Most of this will arrive in the Autumn of this year alongside the rest of iOS27, however, as mentioned, many of the AI features Apple has revealed will still be in their Beta form and thus won’t be completely refined yet. It’s also unclear whether Siri AI features will be offered in the UK at launch; Apple’s latest artificial intelligence software won’t be available to EU customers for now due to the European Digital Markets Act laws. While the UK has its own set of laws, it’s unclear for now whether it will also mean British consumers will have to wait to get their hands on the most substantial part Apple’s new software update.