Opinion: My next car must have CarPlay

Since June 2019, I have been driving a 2016 Hyundai Accent, and while I do love being able to plug my iPhone 12 Mini in to play music from Apple Music and charge it, I have thought about that when the time comes, I’m going to need a little more from my next car.

My current Hyundai is also a weird one since it does not offer Bluetooth capabilities and when phone calls from in and I have my iPhone plugged in via USB, I have to snatch it out of its holster and plug it in via AUX with Apple’s adapter so I can have the sound go through my car’s speakers.

At the time when I purchased the car, I was thankful to have it since my second car, a 2008 Nissan Versa, did not have Bluetooth or an aux port, and I had to play music and podcasts with an FM tuner that was not the best. Either that or go old-fashioned and play CDs.

With everything said, I’d love to be able to get into my next vehicle, have it automatically sync my iPhone via Bluetooth and be able to use CarPlay that way. If I still had to plug it in via USB, that would not hurt my feelings too much.

On top of listening to music through it and having a better experience, it would be great to have a larger screen for using Apple Maps. Also, despite being an introvert, if I was to get a phone call (from close family and friends), I’d like to accept it from the steering wheel and have the call play throughout the vehicle instead of having to switch cables when I get to a stoplight.

So when would I plan to get this vehicle?

To be honest, I don’t have a timeline for it right since my current Hyundai, despite its minor tech issues, is a good car and has excellent gas mileage on it. Not to mention that I’m still paying it off.

As for which car brand I’d like to go with for my future car, I’d like to look into something either from Mazda or Chevrolet. My brother has a 2016 Mazda 6 that I have been jealous of him having since he first purchased it. It’s a car that currently has the necessary tech features for me (no CarPlay right now but could be added to it) and has a luxurious look without the hefty price tag.

I’m so looking forward to the day when I’ll have access to CarPlay in my future vehicle. It’s a great system and I like that it has become an Apple service/feature that has gotten more and more popular with age, as opposed to other projects like App Clips that have not seen as much attention from Apple fans or the general public.