GM Strikes Deal to Put Apple Music in All of Its New Vehicles

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(Bloomberg) — General Motors Co. has cut a deal with Apple Inc. to bring the Apple Music app into Chevrolet and Cadillac models starting Monday, when the automaker will send it to vehicle owners with an over-the-air update.

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Bringing in Apple Music delivers one of the tech company’s most popular apps that GM customers can’t get in its newer vehicles since the automaker started to phase out Apple’s CarPlay phone projection system in 2023. The decision was controversial on social media, and some consumers said they wouldn’t buy a GM vehicle without CarPlay. Third parties even tried to come up with ways to connect CarPlay to GM’s latest vehicles with phone adapters.

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Owners of older models still have CarPlay. 

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“I recognize that’s a hot button topic,” said Sterling Anderson, GM’s chief product officer, in an interview. “I liked it for a very long time in vehicles that had inferior access to the applications and services that I cared about. That’s no longer true in the vehicles that we’ve removed it from.”

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GM will start adding the app in the Cadillac Vistiq and Escalade IQ electric vehicles and CT5 sedan. Chevrolet will start with the Equinox, Blazer and Silverado electric vehicles and the Corvette, Tahoe and Suburban gasoline-powered vehicles. Buick and GMC will eventually get access to Apple Music, GM said.

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Customers will be able to stream music through GM’s OnStar Basics telematics system for all 2025 model year and newer vehicles in the US and Canada at no added cost for eight years from the date they buy the vehicle. 

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Some Cadillac models will be able to use Apple’s Spatial Audio, which feeds music through multiple speakers with the intent of creating a concert hall sound experience. Apple Music’s Spatial Audio is supported by Dolby Atmos. To access the system, Apple Music has to be natively integrated into the vehicle’s entertainment and sound system.

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“You can’t get this with CarPlay in any way,” Anderson said.

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Apple and Mercedes-Benz announced a similar agreement in 2022. Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. also offer Apple Music without CarPlay in their vehicles.

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GM began to move away from CarPlay, opting for its own system that integrates some vehicle controls in the automaker’s own software system. The company has said that it will enable more seamless control of vehicles features without forcing drivers to toggle between the vehicle’s menu and a CarPlay or Android Auto menu.

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As GM moves to its more advanced vehicle software architecture, the company will be able to add features that control more than just entertainment and update them over the air. 

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One of the features will be adding capability to GM’s Super Cruise driver assist system, which enables hand-free driving on the highway. In 2028, the Cadillac Escalade IQ will have hands-free driving that allows a driver to take their eyes off the road in a move that gets closer to full self-driving technology.

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