Apple’s been talking about its next generation of CarPlay for two years now with very little to show for it — the system is designed to unify the interfaces on every screen in your car, including the instrument cluster, but so far only Aston Martin and Porsche have said they’ll ship cars with the system, without any specific dates in the mix.
Technology
Apple’s fancy new CarPlay will only work wirelessly
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23612558/Apple_WWDC22_iOS16_CarPlay_220606.jpg?ssl=1 "Apple’s fancy new CarPlay will only work wirelessly")
And the public response from the rest of the industry towards next-gen CarPlay has been pretty cool overall. I talk to car CEOs on Decoder quite often, and most of them seem fairly skeptical about allowing Apple to get between them and their customers. “We have Apple CarPlay,” Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius told me in April. “If, for some of the functions, you feel more comfortable with that and will switch back and forth, be my guest. But to give up the whole cockpit head unit — in our case, a passenger screen and everything — to somebody else? The answer is no.”
That industry skepticism seems to have hit home for Apple, which posted two WWDC 2024 videos detailing the architecture and design of next-gen CarPlay. Both made it clear that automakers will have a lot of control over how things look and work, and even have the ability to just use their own interfaces for various features using something called “punch-through UI.” The result is an approach to CarPlay that’s much less “Apple runs your car” and much more “Apple built a design toolkit for automakers to use however they want.”
See, right now CarPlay is basically just a second monitor for your phone – you connect to your car, and your phone sends a video stream to the car. This is why those cheap wireless CarPlay dongles work – they’re just wireless display adapters, basically.
But if you want to integrate things like speedometers and climate controls, CarPlay needs to actually collect data from your car, display it in realtime, and be able to control various features like HVAC directly. So for next-gen CarPlay, Apple’s split things into what it calls “layers,” some of which run on your iPhone, but others which run locally on the car so they don’t break if your phone disconnects. And phone disconnects are going to be an issue, because next-generation CarPlay only supports wireless connections. “The stability and performance of the wireless connection are essential,” Apple’s Tanya Kancheva says while talking about the next-gen architecture. Given that CarPlay connectivity issues are still the most common issue in new cars and wireless made it worse, that’s something Apple needs to keep an eye on.
There are two layers that run locally on the car, in slightly different ways. There’s the “overlay UI,” which has things like your turn signals and odometer in it. These can be styled, but everything about it is entirely run on your car, and otherwise untouchable. Then there is the “local UI,” which has things like your speedometer and tachometer — things related to driving that need to update all the time, basically. Automakers can customize these in several ways – there are different gauge styles and layouts, from analog to digital, and they can include logos and so on. Interestingly, there’s only one font choice: Apple’s San Francisco, which can be modified in various ways, but can’t be swapped out.
Apple’s goal for next-gen CarPlay is to have it start instantaneously — ideally when the driver opens the door — so the assets for these local UI elements are loaded onto the car from your phone during the pairing process. Carmakers can update how things look and send refreshed assets through the phone over time as well — exactly how and how often is still a bit unclear.
Then there’s what Apple calls “remote UI,” which is all stuff that runs on your phone: maps, music, trip info. This is the most like CarPlay today, except now it can run on any other screen in your car.
The final layer is called “punch-through UI,” and it’s where Apple is ceding the most ground to automakers. Instead of coming up with its own interface ideas for things like backup cameras and advanced driver-assistance features, Apple’s allowing carmakers to simply feed their existing systems through to CarPlay. When you shift to reverse, the interface will simply show you your car’s backup camera screen, for example:
But carmakers can use punch-through UI for basically anything they want, and even deeplink CarPlay buttons to their own interfaces. Apple’s example here is a vision of multiple colliding interface ideas all at once: a button in CarPlay to control massage seats that can either show native CarPlay controls, or simply drop you into the car’s own interface.
Or a hardware button to pick drive modes could send you to either CarPlay settings, deeplink you into the automaker’s iPhone app, or just open the native car settings:
Apple’s approach to HVAC is also what amounts to a compromise: the company isn’t really rethinking anything about how HVAC controls work. Instead, it’s allowing carmakers to customize controls from a toolkit to match the car system and even display previews of a car interior that match trim and color options. If you’ve ever looked at a car with a weird SYNC button that keeps various climate zones paired up, well, the next generation of CarPlay has a weird SYNC button too.
All of this is kept running at 60fps (or higher, if the car system supports it) by a new dedicated UI timing channel, and a lot of the underlying compositing relies on OpenGL running on the car itself.
All in all, it’s a lot of info, and what feels like a lot of Apple realizing that carmakers aren’t going to just give up their interfaces — especially since they’ve already invested in designing these sorts of custom interfaces for their native systems, many of which now run on Unreal Engine with lots of fun animations, and have Google services like Maps integrated right in. Allowing automakers to punch those interfaces through CarPlay might finally speed up adoption – and it also might create a mix-and-match interface nightmare.
All that said, it’s telling that no one has seen anything but renders of next-gen CarPlay anywhere yet. We’ll have to see what it’s like if this Porsche and Aston ever arrive, and if that tips anyone else into adopting it.
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Even though they haven’t been officially announced yet, Samsung is giving you a chance to save some cash when you preorder what we’re expecting to be the brand’s updated Galaxy Z Fold phones. The next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on July 22nd, 2026, and features the tagline “A new shape unfolds.” In addition to seeing updated versions of the existing Flip and Fold form factors, we anticipate the debut of a new, wider foldable phone. If you register your interest ahead of time and end up preordering one of the new phones shortly after they’re announced, Samsung will give you a $30 store credit at checkout.
There are some caveats to this offer. You have to use the credit when you preorder the phone. No saving it for later. Also, the credit can’t be applied to the cost of the phone either, so you’ll have to put it towards the cost of accessories or extra services. Samsung specifically calls out that select Galaxy rings, earbuds, watches, and tablets are eligible, or you can use it to help pay for Samsung Care Plus.
There are no downsides to registering your interest, so if you think you might be interested in buying one of the upcoming phones, it’s worth filling out the form. As long as you use the same email during checkout, the credit will be automatically applied.
Anthropic’s new AI model raises alarms over safety, cybersecurity concerns
Matt Shumer, co-founder and CEO of OthersideAI, details Anthropic’s new AI model, Mythos, on ‘The Sunday Briefing’. The model’s “emergent capabilities” to find software vulnerabilities autonomously raised alarms, prompting Anthropic to restrict public access. Shumer explains the proactive move of granting major companies and the US government early access to Mythos for cyber defense, anticipating future threats to critical infrastructure and national security.
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A security update rarely feels dramatic. You see the alert, promise yourself you will install it later and then go right back to whatever you were doing. This time, Apple is giving you a stronger reason to pay attention.
Apple released iOS 26.5.2, iPadOS 26.5.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 on June 29, 2026. The updates include security fixes for vulnerabilities tied to the kernel, WebKit and WebRTC. Apple says these fixes were first made available through the iOS 26.6, iPadOS 26.6 and macOS Tahoe 26.6 betas before being pushed out early to everyone.
That is the part that should make you pause. Apple usually rolls many security fixes into larger software updates. This time, the company moved faster.
AI IS NOW POWERING CYBERATTACKS, MICROSOFT WARNS
Apple pushed out security fixes early because AI can help hackers study software flaws faster. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Why Apple released this AI security update early
Apple reportedly accelerated the updates because artificial intelligence can help speed the creation of malicious hacking tools. Once a fix appears in a beta, attackers may be able to study it, reverse-engineer the weakness and move faster than before.
Apple said there was no evidence that the newly patched vulnerabilities had been exploited. Still, the company wanted to shrink the time between when fixes were first visible and when they reached your devices.
That is a major shift. It suggests Apple sees AI as a force that changes the timing of security. A flaw that once gave defenders more breathing room may now become a race.
What Apple fixed in iOS 26.5.2
Apple’s iOS 26.5.2 and iPadOS 26.5.2 notes list fixes for iPhone 11 and later, along with several supported iPad models. The security content includes kernel vulnerabilities that could let an app crash the system, corrupt kernel memory or leak sensitive kernel state.
The update also fixes multiple WebKit issues. WebKit powers Safari and web content inside many apps. Some of these flaws involved malicious web content that could lead to crashes, memory corruption, data leaks or sandbox escapes.
Apple also fixed WebRTC issues that could be triggered by malicious web content and lead to Safari or process crashes.
For Mac, Apple lists macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 as the current release. If your Mac runs macOS Sonoma or macOS Sequoia, Apple also lists Safari 26.5.2 as a June 29, 2026, security release.
A woman uses a smartphone outside an Apple Store on June 20, 2026, in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. (Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
Why AI hacking tools change the security race
AI can help legitimate researchers find bugs faster. That is good when the work leads to stronger software and responsible disclosure. However, the same general capability can also help bad actors move faster. A criminal does not need to understand every line of code if an AI tool can help summarize a patch, compare software changes or suggest where a weakness may be hiding.
That is why Apple’s move is important. It shows that big tech companies may need to release security fixes sooner and more often, even when those updates do not include flashy new features. The wider AI world adds pressure here. Frontier AI companies have released or tested systems with stronger coding and cybersecurity capabilities. Some models are available only through limited previews, approved access or extra safeguards because of their potential cyber use.
Similar efforts are also emerging outside the United States. Several international AI labs and security companies now promote models designed to find vulnerabilities, analyze code and assist cyber defense. The takeaway for you isn’t that AI is automatically bad. The real point is speed. Security teams, attackers and AI tools are now moving on a shorter clock.
How to update your iPhone or iPad
Before you update, plug in your device and connect to Wi-Fi. You may also want to back up your iPhone or iPad first.
Then do this: Open Settings > General > Software Update > Download and Install.
After the update finishes, go back to Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates. Make sure automatic updates are turned on. Apple also lets your device automatically install system file updates that improve security without changing the full software version. If you do not see the update right away, check again later. Apple releases updates in stages, and your device also needs enough battery and storage.
How to update your Mac
On a Mac, start with a backup. Then click the Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update . Choose Update Now if macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 appears.
Next, check your background update settings. On macOS Tahoe 26 or later, go to Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update . Click the More Info button next to Automatic Updates and make sure Install system data files and security updates is turned on.
If your Mac runs Sonoma or Sequoia, look for Safari 26.5.2 in Software Update as well. That Safari update may be the protection your Mac needs if you are not on Tahoe.
BEWARE OF HACKERS SHOWING UP PRETENDING TO BE IT
What this Apple security update means to you
You may see more security updates that feel sudden or small. That can be annoying, especially when you are busy or your device needs to restart.
Still, these updates are becoming more important. Apple is reacting to a world where AI can help shorten the time between a public fix and a possible attack.
So, when your iPhone, iPad or Mac asks you to update, do not treat it like background noise. The update may be closing a door someone else is already trying to find.
Updating your iPhone, iPad and Mac helps close security holes before attackers get more time to exploit them. (Katharina Kausche/picture alliance via Getty Images)
How to stay safe after the Apple security update
Installing the Apple AI security update is the best first move. After that, tighten a few habits that make attacks harder.
1) Keep your apps updated
Your operating system is only part of the security picture. Outdated apps can still create risk, especially if they handle messages, web links, photos, files or account logins. Open the App Store and install available updates regularly.
2) Watch out for suspicious links
Be careful with links in texts, emails and social media messages. WebKit and browser flaws are a reminder that malicious web content can be part of an attack. When in doubt, open the official app or website yourself instead of tapping a link.
3) Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication
Use strong, unique passwords for every account and store them in a password manager. Then turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible. If one password gets exposed, you do not want it opening the door to your email, bank or Apple account.
4) Use strong antivirus protection
Use strong antivirus protection on your Mac and other connected devices. It can help catch malicious files, phishing attempts and suspicious activity before they do damage. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at CyberGuy.com.
5) Back up your data regularly
Back up your iPhone, iPad and Mac before problems hit. A recent backup can help you recover faster if an update fails, your device gets stolen or malware locks you out of important files. CyberGuy’s guide to backing up your devices walks you through ways to protect your files using cloud storage, an external drive or both.
6) Use a personal data removal service
Use a personal data removal service to reduce how much of your personal information is floating around online. Data brokers and people-search sites can expose your name, address, phone number and relatives. Scammers can use those details to make phishing messages feel more believable. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Apple’s early security release shows how fast the cyber threat landscape is changing. The company says there is no evidence these newly patched flaws were exploited, but it still moved the fixes out before the wider 26.6 release. That tells me the old habit of waiting weeks to update is getting riskier. AI can help defenders, but it can also help criminals study weaknesses faster. My advice is direct: update your Apple devices now, turn on automatic security updates and stop putting off patches that protect the phone and computer you use every day.
Do you think AI will make your devices safer because companies can find flaws faster, or more vulnerable because hackers can move faster too? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
Automatic updates, strong passwords and a personal data removal service can make you a harder target after the update. (Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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For more than a decade, one question has loomed over the race to build autonomous vehicles: Are cameras alone enough to safely replace human drivers, or do truly driverless cars need additional, overlapping sensors like lidar and radar to navigate the world reliably? Tesla has bet billions of dollars that artificial intelligence and cameras are sufficient. Nearly every other major autonomous vehicle developer has gone the opposite direction.
Until now, that argument has largely been left to executives and engineers. New Jersey lawmakers are trying to settle it in state law.
A bill expected to come up for a vote later this year would require companies seeking to operate fully autonomous vehicles in New Jersey to use cameras plus two other sensing technologies, most commonly lidar and radar. If enacted, New Jersey would be the first state to codify such a hardware mandate into law, moving ahead of a nearly identical proposal currently pending action in neighboring New York. The measure would also effectively prevent Tesla’s camera-only Robotaxi system from operating in New Jersey unless the company changed its hardware.
”This is not anti-Tesla,” Democratic state Sen. Andrew Zwicker, the bill’s primary sponsor, told The Verge. “I’m pro-New Jersey safety.”
Zwicker, a physicist who works at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (New Jersey doesn’t restrict legislators from outside jobs), said after riding in a Waymo robotaxi in Phoenix he became convinced autonomous vehicles could transform transportation.
”I was amazed how quickly you get used to it,” he said.
The technology, he argues, could dramatically expand mobility, reduce traffic deaths, and make transportation more accessible. But he believes the technology should roll out cautiously in the nation’s most densely populated state.
”At this point, I don’t think the evidence is sufficient that a single sensor with software can handle situations that humans can,” Zwicker said. “Can we get there? Maybe. But we’re not there yet.”
The proposal would establish a three-year pilot program governing the testing and deployment of fully autonomous vehicles in New Jersey. Companies would have to use multiple sensing technologies, report certain crashes, and receive state authorization before operating fully driverless commercial services. They would also have to complete at least 50,000 miles of supervised testing in New Jersey without a major incident before removing the human safety driver.
While state battles over autonomous vehicles have largely centered on safety performance, oversight, and potential job losses, New Jersey is attempting something different: legislating how the vehicles themselves should be built.
“At this point, I don’t think the evidence is sufficient that a single sensor with software can handle situations that humans can.”
— New Jersey state Sen. Andrew Zwicker
The sensor requirement is by far the bill’s most consequential provision and it would have repercussions beyond Tesla. Elon Musk has long argued that cameras paired with increasingly capable artificial intelligence are the best and most cost effective way to operate autonomous vehicles. Humans navigate the world using vision alone, Musk has said, so sufficiently advanced AI should eventually be able to do the same. Eliminating lidar and radar also dramatically lowers hardware costs, making it easier to build robotaxis cheaply enough to deploy at massive scale.
Musk has even argued that adding more sensors can reduce safety by forcing software to reconcile conflicting information.
”Lidar and radar reduce safety due to sensor contention. If lidars/radars disagree with cameras, which one wins?” he wrote on X last year. “We turned off the radars in Teslas to increase safety. Cameras ftw.”
Most of the rest of the autonomous vehicle industry disagrees. Companies including Waymo and Zoox combine cameras with lidar and radar, arguing that each sensing technology has different strengths and weaknesses. Cameras capture rich visual detail, allowing vehicles to recognize colors, traffic signs, lane markings, and pedestrians, but they can struggle in poor weather, darkness, or glare. Radar performs better in rain and fog and excels at measuring the distance and relative speed of nearby objects. Lidar uses lasers to create detailed three-dimensional maps of a vehicle’s surroundings, making it particularly effective at determining the shape and distance of nearby objects.
Rather than relying on a single sensor, those companies combine the strengths of all three, arguing that redundancy makes autonomous driving safer. Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon electrical and computer engineering professor and autonomous vehicle safety expert, said camera-only systems may eventually become capable enough for fully autonomous driving. But he doesn’t believe they are today.
As Koopman put it, “eyeballs are better than cameras for many reasons” and “human brains are fundamentally more powerful than AI because we understand.” While there are situations where Koopman said camera-only works just fine — clear weather, favorable lighting, and less complex roads — he believes it’s not ready for broad consumer use.
“To run 24/7 across the majority of public roads in New Jersey today, it needs lidar,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that today camera-only technology is not up to the challenge.”
Koopman supports the New Jersey proposal but said he would prefer even stronger safeguards, such as requiring conventional driving controls like steering wheels and pedals so first responders could move disabled vehicles (so no Cybercabs, which don’t have either), and limits on how many AVs can be on the road during the pilot (a potential provision Zwicker said he’s considering).
“It’s pretty clear that today camera-only technology is not up to the challenge.”
— AV expert Philip Koopman
“The difference between 100 cars and 10,000 cars is night and day,” Koopman said. When the scale is small, “There’s just not enough cars for that much weird stuff to happen to them.” He pointed to Waymo, which now operates more than 3,500 commercial robotaxis across 11 US metro areas.
”They never used to have problems with floodwaters and school buses — not because they could do floodwaters and school buses,” Koopman said. “But with 100 cars it just doesn’t happen that often.”
Despite a lot of fanfare, Tesla currently only has a handful of unsupervised Robotaxis on the road, mostly in Texas, according to data from Robotaxi Tracker, suggesting it hasn’t been as easy to scale the camera-only approach as Musk had previously promised. Last year he predicted that Tesla would have hundreds of thousands of fully self-driving Teslas operating by the end of 2026. (Tesla did not respond to requests for comment for this article.)
Many of the bill’s provisions mirror recommendations from SAVE-US, a nonprofit that advocates for stricter autonomous vehicle regulation. Physicist and SAVE-US national campaign director Shua Sanchez said the group formed because Congress has failed to establish national rules while autonomous vehicle companies have expanded into states with dramatically different levels of oversight.
“California has the best safety regulations in the country,” he said. “Texas, Arizona, and Georgia have almost no state oversight.”
Among the organization’s priorities is requiring redundant sensing systems.
“We don’t have a problem with Tesla as a company,” Sanchez said. “We have a problem with camera-only autonomous vehicles.”
Nearly every major stakeholder has sought changes to the bill. Waymo successfully pushed to remove a requirement that safety drivers remain in vehicles throughout the pilot, and Uber argued the state should continue requiring human drivers for most rides, according to Zwicker.
Tesla has been lobbying against the legislation in New Jersey, according to Zwicker, who said company representatives met with lawmakers to argue that advances in artificial intelligence make additional sensor types unnecessary. Zwicker said that while the tech has gotten better, “I’m not convinced yet that they’re ready to go.”
The debate has spilled beyond the state House.
“As written, the legislation imposes restrictions so severely that Tesla’s autonomous vehicle technology couldn’t legally operate in New Jersey,” read a Tesla missive to New Jersey Tesla owners encouraging them to contact lawmakers. “Rather than prioritizing real safety outcomes and performance, the bill specifically bans Tesla from the New Jersey market.”
Zwicker said his office received roughly 4,000 emails within a day. “The messaging wasn’t about the details of the bill,” he said. “It was that Zwicker is trying to take away your Autopilot.”
“Rather than prioritizing real safety outcomes and performance, the bill specifically bans Tesla from the New Jersey market.”
— A Tesla message to NJ owners
Zwicker rejects that characterization. The legislation applies only to fully autonomous vehicles operating under the proposed state pilot program — not driver-assistance systems that require a licensed human driver to remain behind the wheel.
The fight in New Jersey reflects a broader vacuum in autonomous vehicle regulation. Congress has debated national autonomous vehicle legislation for years without passing a comprehensive framework, leaving states to develop their own rules as commercial robotaxi services expand. Robotaxi services already operate in states including California, Texas, Arizona, and Georgia under dramatically different regulatory systems. While California requires extensive testing permits and public reporting, it doesn’t specify which tech the AVs need to get there. Texas has adopted a far lighter-touch approach, which lets automakers self-certify that their autonomous vehicles are ready for the road.
New Jersey’s bill raises the possibility that AV tech there could differ from that of other states. Zwicker says that isn’t his concern.
“The technology doesn’t exist in the Northeast at all,” he said. “The goal is to start now, do it safely, and build public trust.”
Sanchez sees the sensor requirement as a common-sense safeguard rather than a restriction on innovation.
“There are absolutely brilliant people working at Tesla trying to make camera-only autonomy work,” he said. “But they’re trying to do it with one arm tied behind their back.”
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