Wireless CarPlay Expands to More New Vehicles Amid Rumors of Portless iPhone Next Year

Hyundai continues to expand wireless CarPlay and Android Auto to more of its vehicle models, including the 2021 Elantra, which began arriving to dealerships in the United States and Canada earlier this month. The new Elantra is available with up to two 10.25-inch displays — one for the digital cluster and one for infotainment options like wireless CarPlay.

hyundai elantra wireless carplay

2021 Elantra is available with up to two 10.25-inch displays

Hyundai is also offering wireless CarPlay in 2021 models of the Tucson, Santa Fe, Venue, and Palisade, while Cadillac has introduced wireless CarPlay across virtually its entire 2021 vehicle lineup, as noted by Cadillac Society.

Wireless CarPlay works over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, eliminating the need for the iPhone to be connected to the infotainment system with a Lightning cable. The wireless connectivity will soon become more important, as reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously claimed that Apple will introduce at least one high-end iPhone without a Lightning connector in 2021, resulting in the device being completely portless.

Apple has already started transitioning to a wireless ecosystem by removing the headphone jack on iPhones and subsequently releasing AirPods, introducing MagSafe wireless charging and accessories on iPhone 12 models, and so forth.

At this point, it's still unclear if or how a portless iPhone would work with vehicles that use wired CarPlay, beyond the use of aftermarket adapters that seem somewhat hacky and don't work in all vehicles. Apple may offer a solution when a portless iPhone becomes official, or it might come down to waiting for more automakers to adopt wireless CarPlay.

Related Roundup: CarPlay

Top Rated Comments

superlawyer15 Avatar
33 months ago
A portless iphone is a dumb idea. Folks aren't going to go buy a new car just because the new iphone has no ports. What's going to happen is that people will pass on the new phone.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
33 months ago
A portless iPhone would be a negative thing for some iPhone users. I can't speak on percentages, but I'm sure more than a few people sync things manually from their Mac. It would take a really long time to sync vast amounts of of data wirelessly.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RoadWarrior56 Avatar
33 months ago
A portless iPhone would be a deal breaker for me. Please Apple, no more courage!
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rosalindavenue Avatar
33 months ago
Portless iPhone is a terrible idea, especially now that the magsafe charging is revealed as slow. This would be the bst way to guarantee that poeple who charge their phones and CarPlay users hold on to their current iPhone for 4 or 5 years instead of upgrading.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rosalindavenue Avatar
33 months ago

Or I don't know... Maybe buy a Wireless QI charger for the car? I've been using one since the first iPhone that supported Qi came out.
Unless there is some new tech, a charger isn't going to do anything to connect to wired CarPlay.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) Avatar
33 months ago
CarPlay Wireless is nice but it does eat battery. Need to have it on the charger if you don't want to be significantly drained by the time you get to your destination.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)