For about a decade, Apple’s answer to “can I watch video on my CarPlay screen?” was a hard no. Then, with iOS 26, Apple quietly changed its mind: AirPlay video to the CarPlay display, as long as the car is parked. With iOS 27, which came out in September, Apple went further and made video apps an official CarPlay app category, so you can browse and play shows right on the car’s screen. If you shift into drive, it drops to audio only.
Great! Finally! Sitting in the car waiting for a kid’s practice to end, parked at a charger, waiting at the airport. This is exactly what that giant dashboard screen should be good for.
Except, in practice, you can’t. Not in my car, and almost certainly not in yours. And that’s not any one car being dumb. It’s basically every car.
The fine print
Here’s the catch, straight from Apple’s own CarPlay developer page: video in the car only works if the automaker integrates “CarPlay with AirPlay video” into the vehicle, through Apple’s MFi program. (apple) Your iPhone update alone doesn’t do anything. The car has to tell iOS it’s parked, and the automaker has to certify the whole thing.
And how many automakers have signed up? As of MacRumors’ iOS 27 roundup, zero. “As of writing, no manufacturer has announced plans to support the feature.” (macrumors) I couldn’t find any announcement since then either.
So Apple shipped a headline feature, gave developers a shiny new video app category, built a demo for WWDC, and the number of cars that can actually play a video while parked is, as far as anyone can tell, none. That’s not a feature. That’s a press release with a progress bar.
What about CarPlay Ultra?
You’d think CarPlay Ultra, Apple’s next-gen, takes-over-every-screen version of CarPlay, would be where this shows up first. It’s a separate program, and it’s in even rougher shape. Ultra launched in May 2025 and, as of August 2026, was still only available in select Aston Martins, the kind with six-figure price tags. Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis were announced as committed partners back then and still hadn’t shipped it. (macrumors)
So the plan to get video into cars depends on the same automakers who’ve spent over a year not shipping Apple’s other big car feature. Inspiring.
The part that makes it extra dumb
Automakers aren’t against video in the car. They’re against Apple’s video in the car. Ford’s own Digital Experience system, for example, advertises watching YouTube and Prime Video on the touchscreen while parked, plus games and a web browser. (ford) So the screen can do it, the parked-detection exists, and the lawyers have apparently made peace with it. They just want you inside their app store, not Apple’s.
That’s the real story here. It isn’t a safety problem or a technical problem. It’s a who-owns-the-dashboard problem. Car companies see the infotainment screen as their turf and their future subscription revenue, and every Apple feature that makes their software less relevant is a feature they’re in no hurry to turn on.
Apple, push harder
Apple is not exactly shy about pushing people around. It pushes developers. It pushes carriers. It pushes accessory makers through MFi. So why does CarPlay video feel like Apple wrote the code, put it on a shelf, and politely waited for the car companies to notice?
Some things Apple could actually do:
- Name names. Publish a list of cars that support CarPlay video, and update it. Shame works.
- Make it boring to adopt. If an automaker already detects “parked” for its own video apps, supporting AirPlay video should be a checkbox, not a certification saga.
- Put it in the next CarPlay certification bar for new head units instead of leaving it as an optional extra.
- Stop demoing features at WWDC that no customer can use. Or at least say “coming to zero cars” on the slide.
I get that Apple doesn’t control the car. But Apple controls the phone that most of the people in those cars are carrying, and I’d bet plenty of buyers won’t even consider a car without CarPlay. That’s leverage. Use it.
Until then, CarPlay video while parked is the most Apple feature ever: beautifully designed, technically shipped, and completely unavailable.
