Which cars still don’t have Apple CarPlay in 2024?

Apple CarPlay has been an excellent addition to the automotive landscape, offering drivers a solution for safely using their iPhones while driving.

Able to provide seamless integration of your iPhone's maps app, music streaming, voice-to-text and Siri functionality, Apple CarPlay is on the must-have list for plenty of new-car buyers.

RELATED: How to retrofit Apple CarPlay to your car

Apple CarPlay debuted in September 2014 at the Geneva International Motor Show, when Apple officially rebranded its 'iOS in the car' system to CarPlay, describing it as the automotive equivalent of its 'AirPlay' functionality for televisions.

The Ferrari FF was the first production car to offer Apple CarPlay, while Volvo and Mercedes-Benz were also billed as development partners.

In 2014, Hyundai added the functionality to its Sonata before major car brands like Honda and Volkswagen began implementing the technology in their cars from 2015 onwards.

Since then, it's become increasingly popular amongst car makers, given iPhones reportedly make up 21 per cent of world's total smartphone-using population.

In 2023, Apple revealed over 800 car models globally use its system from the factory to provide a seamless solution for connection between your phone and your car.

Recently, Nissan announced it would add Apple CarPlay as standard on all variants of its 2024 Patrol – thereby updating one of the last remaining models in Australia without the technology.

Even the cheapest new car on the Australian market, the manual Kia Picanto S at $17,890 (excluding on-road costs), comes equipped with Apple CarPlay as standard.

While some brands offer the functionality via a wired connection to a USB port, others have upgraded their cars to wireless Apple CarPlay – allowing smartphone projection via a Bluetooth connection.

However, a few car models have fallen through the cracks when it comes to Apple CarPlay. If Apple CarPlay is a necessity for you, these are the few new cars that still go without:

One of the brands that does not offer Apple CarPlay on its cars is Tesla. Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has publicly spoken about his relationship with Apple in multiple tweets. In December of 2020, Musk wrote: "During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting".

Many have speculated that this is part of the reason there have previously been no Apple features in Tesla cars but, in 2022 when a user floated the idea of CarPlay on X (formerly known as Twitter), Musk responded with: "Will discuss this and other improvements with Tesla audio engineering. The new Model S and X sound system is incredible".

In July 2023, a software code uncovered by Twitter user @Tesla_App_iOS suggested Tesla would soon support Apple AirPlay, according to a report from website Not a Tesla App.

Apple AirPlay is the US tech giant's own method of sharing media files between two devices. AirPlay can be used to mirror the iPhone on another screen – though it's understood smartphone functions won't be able to be accessed from the car's infotainment screen.