Apple just announced its biggest CarPlay update in years, with a new AI-powered Siri, improved Maps, and a redesigned audio player landing later in 2026. It looks great. But it also matters less than it used to, because the bigger story in your next car's dashboard isn't what Apple is doing. It's what the car makers are doing.
More manufacturers are walking away from CarPlay and Android Auto and building their own infotainment systems instead. If you're picking your next lease in 2026 or 2027, the dashboard you'll actually live with for the next three or four years has become a real decision to think about, not an afterthought.
What's Actually Happening
For most of the last decade, plugging your iPhone or Android into a car and seeing a familiar interface on the centre screen was the default. CarPlay is now supported in over 800 car models worldwide. For most leasing customers, it's been a given.
That's changing. Three things are happening at once.
First, some manufacturers are skipping CarPlay entirely. Tesla has never offered CarPlay and doesn't intend to. The car runs its own software, and your phone connects through Tesla's interface or not at all. It's the most prominent example UK leasing customers will recognise.
Second, manufacturers are running their own systems alongside CarPlay rather than against it. Volvo and Polestar build their infotainment on Google's Android Automotive, with Google Maps and the Google Assistant baked in, but they still let you launch CarPlay on top if you prefer it. You get the choice.
Third, Apple is pushing a deeper integration called CarPlay Ultra, which takes over the whole dashboard including the driver's instrument cluster. So far, only Aston Martin offers it. Hyundai, Kia, Genesis and Porsche have said they'll add it. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Polestar have publicly declined.
The Three Camps Forming
The CarPlay-friendly camp: Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Porsche, Aston Martin. Embracing the deeper CarPlay Ultra integration.
The middle-ground camp: Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Polestar, Ford, Toyota, Honda. Investing in their own systems while still supporting basic CarPlay and Android Auto.
The no-CarPlay camp: Tesla is the main one UK leasing customers will encounter. You use Tesla's interface or nothing.
Why It Matters for the Car You Lease
On the surface, this looks like a tech story. It isn't. It's a decision you'll make every single day for the length of your lease.
If you're someone who runs your life through your phone (your calendar, your music, your messages, your navigation), losing CarPlay means rebuilding habits inside a new system. Some of those systems are excellent. Tesla's interface is well-designed and constantly updated. Google's Android Automotive in a Volvo or Polestar gives you Google Maps and Assistant natively, which a lot of people prefer to Apple's equivalents. AI assistants in the dashboard are becoming the new battleground across the industry.
But it's a real change, and it's one you'll feel within the first week of ownership. Worth knowing before you sign a 3 or 4 year contract.
Five Questions to Ask Before You Order
Whether you're looking at electric lease deals or sticking with petrol or diesel, this list is worth running through with whoever's quoting your car:
- Does this car support CarPlay or Android Auto on the trim and infotainment package I'm being quoted? Some manufacturers gate it behind higher trim levels or option packs.
- Is it wired or wireless? Wireless is increasingly standard, but a wired-only setup means a cable on the dash for the life of the lease.
- What's the native system like? If you might use it instead of CarPlay (or you have to), spend 15 minutes with it on a test drive. Don't just take the marketing material at face value.
- Are there subscription costs after year one? Some manufacturers are bundling navigation, connected services or driver assistance behind monthly subscriptions that kick in once a free trial ends.
- How do over-the-air updates work? The cars with the best long-term infotainment experience are the ones that genuinely update themselves. The cars that don't will feel three years old by the time your lease finishes.
A practical tip
On any test drive, pair your own phone. Make a call. Run your usual navigation app. Try your usual music app. Five minutes of doing what you actually do every day in the car will tell you more than half an hour of feature demos.
What This Means for Business and Salary Sacrifice Drivers
For company car drivers, especially on a salary sacrifice scheme, the infotainment question is becoming a real part of the decision tree alongside Benefit-in-Kind rate, range and monthly cost.
A lot of the most tax-efficient cars on a salary sacrifice list right now are fully electric, and a lot of those are also the ones rethinking their dashboard. Tesla has no CarPlay. The Hyundai, Kia and Genesis EVs are pushing toward CarPlay Ultra. Volvo and Polestar give you both. It's worth knowing where the car you're about to spec sits before you sign.
The good news is the cars with the strongest native systems often have the strongest software updates too, so the gap between "I love it" and "I tolerate it" can close over the life of a lease. The cars that struggle are the ones with a half-finished native system that doesn't update.
The Wider Point
What's really happening here is a battle for who controls the most valuable surface in your car. Manufacturers want their own software running the dashboard for two reasons. One is data. The car is now a connected device, and whoever owns the interface owns the data. Two is subscription revenue. Connected services, navigation upgrades, advanced driver assistance and entertainment packages are increasingly billed monthly. If Apple or Google runs the screen, the car maker can't easily layer subscriptions on top.
For drivers, the practical effect is simple. The default of "plug my phone in and it just works" is becoming less universal. The car you choose really does affect how your dashboard behaves, and that's a change worth being deliberate about.
The good news: there's never been more choice. The thing worth doing is knowing which side of the line your shortlist sits on before you sign anything.
What to Look at Next
- Browse our latest electric car lease deals if you're comparing EV options across different infotainment systems.
- Compare business car lease deals across all makes.
- Read our guide to how car leasing works for the foundations.
- See current car lease special offers across the range.
Not Sure Which Dashboard Suits You?
We've spent a lot of time in a lot of different cars. If you're shortlisting two or three models and the infotainment system is part of your decision, we're happy to walk you through what's actually different, what's the same, and what really matters for the way you drive.
Talk to the LetsLease team for a no-pressure conversation.
LetsLease is an independent UK car leasing broker. Feature availability and trim levels referenced in this article are accurate at the time of writing and may change. Always confirm specifications with the dealer before signing. Lease agreements subject to status and approval. Terms apply.