CarPlay: Display and connection problems after update to iOS 18.4
In certain vehicles, there are difficulties using CarPlay after updating the iPhone to iOS 18.4. It is still unclear what the cause is.
CarPlay in the car: It hangs after iOS 18.4, but not in all cars.
(Image: Hadrian / Shutterstock.com)
Users of Apple's vehicle integration for the iPhone, CarPlay, have been reporting problems since the update to iOS 18.4. In some cases, the display in the instrument cluster is no longer loaded, and in some cases CarPlay no longer responds at all. Corresponding threads can be found on Reddit, among other places, as reported by the car magazine Autoevolution. Apple had actually wanted to make improvements to CarPlay with the iPhone update.
Display failed
The owner of a 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid from the USA writes, for example, that CarPlay previously displayed the music currently playing in the instrument cluster. "After the update to 18.4, it no longer does this and is blank." There are similar reports from Hondas from the previous year, various VW models, the Audi S3 and the Nissan Frontier. Mazdas (such as the 2025 CX-30) are also said to be affected. New vehicles in particular allow CarPlay to feed content to parts of the "instrument cluster", i.e. where the speedometer and rev counter are located, for example – a feature that is very useful because you don't have to look at the main display.
In addition to the failure of the instrument cluster content, there are also more fundamental CarPlay failures after updating to iOS 18.4, whereby the iPhone integration can no longer be started at all. In some cases, those affected had to reconnect five times in a row. If the iPhone is paired with the car via Wireless CarPlay, this may mean that the connection has to be deleted. Wired CarPlay can be unplugged and plugged in again, although it appears that the connection on the iPhone must then be deleted in some cases.
Videos by heise
"So much sh... lately"
It is currently unclear what is causing the problem. With iOS 18.4, Apple started to allow more icons on the main screen of CarPlay –, which is actually a welcome innovation because it means you don't have to scroll as much. However, it is only available on larger displays. Freshly introduced bugs may have arisen in this context.
One affected person said that he now had to delete the iPhone connection in his Cupra Formentor every time he got in and then set it up again so that CarPlay would work again. "Apple is doing so much sh... lately," the person wrote. It's unclear how quickly the problem will be fixed, Apple can fortunately do this via a simple (re)iOS update, as the car ultimately only serves as a display for iPhone integration.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
