Next-Gen Apple CarPlay Revealed: How It Can Help Bikers

Apple’s next-gen CarPlay was recently showcased at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2024) held by the Californian brand. While it aims to seamlessly integrate the iPhone experience with cars, it makes us think. Why should only car guys have all the fun?

To be fair, it’s not like Apple CarPlay has been completely gatekept from bikers. Some Honda, Harley-Davidson, and Indian Motorcycles’ bikes come equipped with CarPlay from the factory, and there are some aftermarket solutions available as well for everyone. But as it stands, it’s not yet as democratised for bikes as it is for cars. 

Many bikes now have digital displays large enough, even putting some smartphones to shame. And almost all of them have Bluetooth connectivity. With the next-gen CarPlay, Apple wants to seamlessly integrate the vehicle’s crucial information – speedometer, tachometer, fuel levels, and so on, with smartphone-specific functionalities. We think this would be a great opportunity for bike makers to continue their focus on making great bikes, and let Apple take care of the auxiliary features like navigation, music and call controls, and message alerts – things bikers opt to use during their commutes and rides. Even with CarPlay disconnected, the bike would be able to showcase everything that it’s supposed to and run just perfectly. 

The driver-assist features that are integrated in the next-gen CarPlay could be adapted to tweak rider aids like ABS and traction control levels. Since the new CarPlay can also read fuel level and distance-to-empty, it can automatically add petrol stations to ongoing navigation with minimal or no rider intervention when required. Integrating CarPlay on motorcycles could also help do away with fidgety, non-intuitive music and navigation controls that we have seen on some bikes. Hey, even changing ride and power modes could be as easy as sending out a voice command rather than going through branched-out menus.

Of course, all of this would be integrated traditionally as the bikemaker would have intended and would let the riders operate it as they would have without CarPlay if they don’t intend to connect their phones to their bikes. Some riders wouldn’t want to have their phone connected to their bike all the time and it’s completely understandable. That said, we would also appreciate it if Google upped their game and brought Android Auto to more bikes as well. Afterall, the name of their tech is more inclusive of all automobiles, whether four-wheeled or two.