CarPlay's going vrooom

I’ve long wanted to upgrade the infotainment system in my old, beat-up Land Rover, but the radio is so closely tied into the vehicle’s electronics, my mechanic strongly advised against it.

It’s pre-Bluetooth, so I’ve always had trouble connecting my phone — until I plugged in a portable CarPlay display. The stand-alone screen mounts on the dash and plugs into the ciggy lighter port.

I now pipe all the audio through it via the aux jack, and the built-in Harman Kardon sound system has never sounded better!

I’ve been testing out a handful of portable CarPlay screens recently, and have fallen in love with them.

The displays range in size from 7 inches to 10 inches. The screens are touch-sensitive and, for the most part, the devices have pretty good mics and speakers for taking calls or asking Siri for directions. They’re a great way to add modern features to older vehicles. (There’s even a foldable one with a 6.8-inch screen that’s fantastic for stashing in your glovebox.)

CarPlay has matured into a pretty great infotainment system that’s streets ahead of the horrible ones made by most car manufacturers. No wonder so many automakers offer CarPlay in new vehicles — it’s become one of the most desired features for new car buyers.

CarPlay is set to get a big upgrade in iOS 26, currently in developer beta. Here’s a rundown of all the great new features coming to CarPlay on track for the fall.

Also in today’s newsletter:

• Running out of storage space is like going bankrupt: It happens gradually at first, then suddenly. It can be a real headache. Clever Cleaner is a new space-saving iPhone app that sounds too good to be true: It’s made by a trusted dev team, and is free for life with no ads. The cleanups it performs sound very clever, too. Check it out.

• Snap has long been a leader in AR/VR, even earning the reputation as Meta’s external design lab because Mark Zuckerberg stole so many ideas. But it seems now Snap is the one doing the copying — from Apple.

• This is a puzzle and a disappointment. Apple’s moving forward with a folding iPhone (which I’m not sure I want) while delaying a folding iPad (which I very much do). Reminds me of the initial development of Multi-Touch, which started as a tablet interface but came first to the iPhone. Bigger market, I suppose.

• Did anyone watch Apple TV+’s Invasion? I abandoned the sci-fi series after a couple of episodes and have heard nary a thing about it since. I guess someone’s watching, ‘cos season three is coming soon. Here’s the teaser trailer.

• Autocorrect is a blessing and a curse. Here’s the super-easy way to turn it off if it’s driving you crazy.

• Today’s featured setup seems to have three of everything, including displays, one of which is a portable screen used for very specific tasks. Sounds like a smart way to split up screen space.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

^{A message from Clever Files}

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team}

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