Apple CarPlay is Now on the Polestar 2!

I pulled up into my garage last weekend and noticed a software update available on our Polestar 2. I installed it and was pleasantly surprised to see the Apple CarPlay icon on the home screen. It’s been so long since we learned that CarPlay was coming to the Polestar 2 that with each update that came without it, the less likely it seemed that it would actually come. Now that it’s actually on the car, I sure think it was worth the wait.

Apple on Google?

Let me start by mentioning just how mind blowing it is to see something like this work. I’m not talking about Apple CarPlay itself as that has been around and functions exactly as it does on other vehicles. I’m looking at the fact that this is an Apple designed interface that is officially running on top of a Google designed car system in the form of Android Automotive. That’s like the equivalent of MacOS being officially supported and running on ChromeOS or iOS running on Android. This probably will fly over just about every owner of a Polestar, but for a tech enthusiast who has been reviewing devices for half a decade now, I just had to sit and appreciate what I was using for a couple of minutes. I love where we are now in 2022.

On the home screen of Android Automotive, the Apple CarPlay icon is located on the bottom left square. Plugging in an iPhone through the USB-C port highlighted by a white line will connect the phone with the car. Of the two USB-C ports in the cockpit, only the white USB-C port can connect the phone. After going through the setup process on both the phone and the car, Apple CarPlay will be ready to go. Tapping the icon launches the interface surprisingly quickly. Like on any other Apple CarPlay compatible car, you can customize the apps listed on the display through the iPhone. It’s terrific seeing applications like ABRP and Electrify America being directly displayed on the car. When you mix this with the apps that are already downloadable through the Google Playstore on Android Automotive, we’re quickly approaching a level where applications are actually helpful in cars.

What it means for the future?

We don’t need to go into detail about what Apple CarPlay can do as it has been around and implemented on many cars for nearly a decade now. What we do need to talk about is just how smooth it works on the Polestar 2. The Polestar only has a wired CarPlay connectivity, but I don’t mind keeping a USB-C to Lightning cable in the car. The only major negative I can immediately see from this setup is that the map on the driver cockpit dash disables the minute CarPlay is enabled. When you’re using Apple Maps or Google Maps in Apple CarPlay, it will not display in front of the driver. That’s to be expected and unfortunately won’t be addressed on the Polestar 2 in the future as it is highly unlikely (from what the company has said) that this model will get the next-gen CarPlay interface that occupies all displays in the car. 

Whatever the future may hold for the Polestar 2, one thing is for sure; the company is dedicated to improving the user experience through over the air software updates. It has been enough time now for us to truly know what Polestar is capable of and they have shown that commitment. Finally getting Apple CarPlay pushed to our car through Wi-FI in our garage proves that we are in store for a lot more exciting updates in the future.

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