Reading a couple of articles about CarPlay Ultra. The consensus is that it is a win for Aston Martin. It certainly changs the narrative that Aston Martin is behind the world in tech.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/apple-carplay-looks-stunning-in-its-first-car/

https://carbuzz.com/aston-martin-first-apple-carplay-ultra/

 

I guess 100% of potential new AM owners have iPhones?

 

I believe the ultra works even without an iPhone. It still handles most of the car's function based on a passthrough between the vehicles computer and the CarPlay interface.

 

Its only for iPhone users. The rest of us are not important.

 

See my reply above. As I understand it the system still works without an iPhone. The Apple interface with all the associated look, feel and widgets communicate with the underling cars computer.
That said without an iPhone you would not have access to the iPhone apps.

 

No. Closer to 99% I would say.

 

I guess we'll see when someone actually get s their hands on it. The way I read it is that it simply expands Carplay to be able to control all the displays and the use data and control inputs from the car. But these are just press releases, so they can be very deceiving.

 

It requires an iPhone. The iPhone is the CPU.

 

To me it feels like something that will age incredibly poorly. I know you'll likely have access to OTA updates, but I'll keep the gauges in my 2007 V8 Vantage thanks (even if I have to put up with the rest of the infotainment ).