Hands-On With the Apple Music App for Tesla

Car manufacturer Tesla last week rolled out a holiday software update that added Apple Music support to Tesla vehicles, so we thought we'd check it out for those who are interested in a hands-on demo of how Apple's streaming music service works on the Tesla platform.


Apple Music support for Tesla cars is something that Tesla owners have long been waiting for, as the electric car company has previously only worked with streaming services like Spotify.

The experience works as you might expect, and the full ‌Apple Music‌ service is available. The navigation experience is superior compared to Spotify, such as options for tapping into songs from a playlist to get to the entire album along with better interface interactions.

Navigation is also straightforward, though it's worth noting that it does not appear that iTunes Match content is available for access. Lossless and Dolby Atmos also do not appear to be available at this time in Teslas, and it is not clear if that functionality is going to be enabled at a later date.

If you're a Tesla owner, you will need the 2022.44.25 Tesla Holiday Update to access ‌Apple Music‌, which has been rolling out over the last seven days.

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Top Rated Comments

BeatCrazy Avatar
37 months ago

Can't believe how big the screen is in that car, so awesome.
One thing I can tell you after having a Tesla for 3 years... having a HUGE screen never gets old. Any other car I get into, the screen just feels tiny and cramped.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
_Spinn_ Avatar
37 months ago
Looks nice. Now if we can get CarPlay support.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gaximus Avatar
37 months ago

They mentioned online, the annual holiday software update is available for all users, but there is a small catch:
Note: A Premium Connectivity subscription is required to stream Apple Music over a cellular connection. You see that if you click on the Apple Music portion of this twitter post.
it’s really hard to stream music over a cellular connection without a cellular connection. I tried a really long ethernet cable and it was great around the neighborhood.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LukasValine Avatar
37 months ago

They mentioned online, the annual holiday software update is available for all users, but there is a small catch:
Note: A Premium Connectivity subscription is required to stream Apple Music over a cellular connection. You see that if you click on the Apple Music portion of this twitter post. (upper left)

[MEDIA=twitter]1602725058291474432[/MEDIA]
Obviously premium connectivity is needed for cellular. If you want to stream for “free” you can connect your car to your phones hotspot.

Tesla charges less for data than most cell carriers fyi.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
37 months ago
Can't believe how big the screen is in that car, so awesome.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayinla Avatar
37 months ago
One MAJOR issue with the app in the Tesla is if your playlist is over 100 songs, it separates the playlist into pages of 100 songs each. You can't play the whole playlist...only the page you select. Oh, and it won't play your smart playlists.. The playlist implementation is a dealbreaker for me.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)