Tesla and Apple now working together on major car update, says expert

Tesla's plans to bring Apple CarPlay to its cars have hit a bump, with a compatibility problem between Apple Maps and Tesla's own mapping software causing delays. These are further compounded by slower adoption of the latest iOS version.

For a long time Tesla has offered its own technology solutions in its cars, rather than using smartphone-based systems. However, in late 2025 it was revealed that Apple CarPlay was to finally be supported by Tesla vehicles, allowing drivers to use the Apple solution inside Tesla's own infotainment system.

In the most recent report, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has outlined that one of the problems that's slowed down this move has been an incompatibility between Apple Maps and Tesla's maps. That could result in both maps running at the same time, it's reported by 9to5Mac.

As Tesla's maps make up part of the Autopilot system, that could lead to some strange results if the driver thinks they are navigating on one route, while the car thinks it's following another.

According to the details, Tesla asked Apple to make "engineering changes" to Apple Maps, which apparently appeared as a bug fix in iOS 26. However, adoption of iOS 26 has been slower than expected and this then caused a pause, as Tesla thought that too few users had the latest version of the software.

According to Apple's figures, 74% of iPhones (from the last 4 years) are running iOS 26, while 20% remain on iOS 18 and 6% are on earlier versions. But those dates are for February 2026, while Gurman implies that Tesla's decision was made at the end of 2025, when the adoption was likely lower still.

That leaves us in a position where there's plenty of anticipation for CarPlay in Tesla, but no firm date on when it's actually going to be available.

Does Tesla need to adopt Apple CarPlay?

Smartphone-based systems have been experiencing a bit of kickback recently from the automotive industry, so in one sense, Tesla is swimming against the tide here.

Some car manufacturers have signalled that they are dropping support for CarPlay and Android Auto, choosing to focus on their native system and own the experience.

Elsewhere, support for Apple CarPlay Ultra – the system that takes over all the displays in a car – has been tepid, boosted recently by the understanding that the Hyundai Motor Group might be moving to include support in a model in 2026.

While systems from Apple and Google remain popular for their simplicity and familiarity, what Tesla is experiencing highlights the bigger problem: smartphone-based systems are generic, while cars are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

There's a chance that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will only be able to offer superficial features, while more advanced systems remain beyond reach.