Chevrolet Rolls Out Its First CarPlay-Enabled Vehicles

Earlier this year, Chevy announced that it would be bringing Apple’s CarPlay to production vehicles soon, and the first cars with the infotainment feature from Apple are now rolling off the line and going out to dealerships and consumers. TechCrunch reported that the first production Chevrolet with CarPlay installed was a silver, 650-HP Corvette Z06.

Chevrolet noted that “New smartphone projection technology on Corvette Z06’s MyLink system displays content from Apple iPhone 5 or later models on the multicolor screen through the Apple CarPlay feature.” The company further explained that “the ‘Projection’ icon on the MyLink screen is visible when a phone is not connected, then changes to indicate CarPlay when a compatible phone is connected via a USB.”

The official debut of CarPlay was made at Apple’s “Spring Update” event back in 2014, when the company first revealed its plans to translate the iPhone user experience for use with in-dash displays, both on new vehicles and aftermarket solutions. Up until now, the rollout of new vehicles with the software enabled for end-users has been slow, but Chevrolet’s production shipments seem to indicate that it will soon be widespread.

At Chevy’s May CarPlay media event, the company didn’t say that the Corvette Z06 would be the first Chevy CarPlay car, but instead pointed to the Tahoe, Suburban and Volt to be the first CarPlay-equipped vehicles. Those cars are expected to go into production in July, with the remainder of the Chevy CarPlay lineup to roll out later in 2015.

The following is a full list of Chevy vehicles that will be released with CarPlay support:

• 7-inch screens: Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Camaro convertible, Silverado, Silverado HD

• 8-inch screens: Cruze, Malibu, Impala, Volt, Camaro, Camaro convertible, Corvette, Corvette convertible, Colorado, Silverado, Silverado HD, Tahoe, Suburban

Chevrolet explained at its media event that its first CarPlay vehicles won’t include wireless CarPlay support, which is an upcoming iOS 9 feature. Instead, Chevy’s 2016 cars will require a user’s iPhone to be connected via a LIghtning cable. There are other new features included in iOS 9 that allow it to be more deeply integrated with in-car systems, such as letting car knobs control CarPlay functions, but it’s not yet clear if Chevy’s vehicles will take advantage of this upgrade when Apple’s new operating system is released in the fall.

There are several other car manufacturers that are expected to launch CarPlay-compatible vehicles this year, including Volkswagen and Apple, with Tim Cook saying that more than 40 car models featuring CarPlay support will be available by the end of 2015.