The next-gen Apple CarPlay was recently unveiled at the big Apple keynote event. It’s the new in-car phone integration software, which is the latest offering from the tech giant. A new interface was demonstrated by Apple that can completely integrate CarPlay with car systems. It can also integrate with the screens of a vehicle more efficiently, including both driver displays and the dashboard. This software has long been rumored to be under development.

The Development Process

For almost a decade, Apple has been reportedly engaging in building a more integrated car system, and even crafting the brand’s own car from scratch. As per the latest rumor, Apple’s own autonomous vehicle system is still under development with a focus on an in-house built bespoke user experience. Now, this is likely to expand upon the features and look of the humble beginnings of CarPlay. The announcement of this new next-gen software has given a better idea of the software development Apple would go towards.

The Probable User Experience

According to the official announcement, this latest generation of CarPlay by Apple will deeply integrate itself with the car hardware in unparalleled ways. The menus of the adaptive software can function behind more than one screen in the car interior, instead of only the main dashboard interface. This new integration will allow the users to overrule traditional driving information. With CarPlay, driver display elements like fuel level, speed, temperature, and other instrument cluster details come with a new personalized display, tapping into the car’s data systems for precise readouts. Apple also claims that this better-integrated software will offer a user experience that is unified and consistent.

The Integrated Features

The new generation CarPlay lets the users choose diverse gauge cluster designs in a new application widget layout. It could include music and weather readouts alongside the important vehicle information. The main dashboard screen layout is updated too with a lower-edge information and application bar, and new buttons to demonstrate how the integrated software system can take over the traditional climate control functionality. Apple also has announced vital updates to its Maps applications, which are now going to let the users plan up to 15 stops along a single route. This will automatically sync from Mac to iPhone, during planning. However, Apple has kept its CarPlay presentation short, with a promise to share more detailed information soon on this new setup. The company is also about to share a list of upcoming compatible vehicles.

Not every car on the road has to be super fast, loud, or aggressive, sometimes they can be small and sweet. People want different things from their vehicles, even if that is cuteness. With that in mind, these might be the cutest cars in history.

Daihatsu Copen

It’s hard to clasp your eyes on the Daihatsu Copen and not have a little smile on your face. The dinky little car is styled with vintage autos in mind, but it has all of the modern engineerings to ensure it remains reliable. We can imagine it’s practically impossible to not put the roof down and let the wind blow through your hair in this cute Japanese import.

Fiat 500

Is there a car that can transport you to the streets of Rome better than the Fiat 500? These little city cars have been a staple of Italian engineering for decades, and they only seem to get cuter as time goes on. The cars are deliberately small to allow them to navigate the tight roads in European cities, but out on the open highways, the Fiat 500 just looks cute.

Google Firefly

As if Google hasn’t taken over enough of the world, it seems the tech giants are also looking to be a presence on our roads. The Google Firefly actually won’t be taking to our roads any time soon as it was created as an AI learning experiment. They only did 25mph, and all 50 of them were retired by Google’s autonomous division back in 2017.

Geely Panda

The first thing that strikes us about this adorable little car is the fact it has a face. Those big and bright lights, coupled with the mouth-shaped grill, make the Geely Panda look just like its namesake.

While these cutest cars might not set driver’s pulses racing, they can’t daily but make people go “Aww” whenever they spot them on the road.