Apple quietly hid a big change coming for CarPlay with iOS 27

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Apple quietly hit a big change coming for CarPlay with iOS 27 This is an Engadget News special. Have you ever sat in your CarPlay-equipped vehicle waiting to pick up a friend and thought, why can't I play a video on this ginormous screen?
If so, there's some good news. Apple quietly announced at WWDC 2026 that CarPlay will soon let you browse and play videos directly on supported vehicles once iOS 27 arrives. This news came shortly after Google announced that HD video playback would be coming to Android Auto as well. This CarPlay video capability will only work when the car is stationary. If the system detects motion, it will switch to an audio-only mode, as Inside EVs detailed. Still, it will be a godsend to bored EV owners charging their vehicles, ride-sharing drivers waiting for passengers, and parents picking up their kids from school. There are a few serious caveats though that may significantly delay wide availability of this feature. Here's how the new CarPlay video feature will work, as Apple explained to developers in its WWDC 2026, Rev Up Your CarPlay App Video. The idea is that devs can add video playback for apps in new cars that support its upcoming Video In-Car feature. This requires AirPlay streaming, something that Apple introduced last year with iOS 26.4 to allow video mirroring from an iPhone. More on that shortly. The new iOS 27 video feature takes this to the next level, letting users not only playback, but browse videos. In its demonstration, Apple uses a fictitious Landmark app as an example, but this could presumably apply to any video streaming app, like Apple TV or YouTube. The demo is aimed at developers, but gives end users an idea of what to expect as well. If your app and CarPlay system support video playback, you'll see an option for videos at the top left of the display. Selecting that will show a list of video thumbnails you typically see in video streaming apps, along with a mini player at the top right with basic controls. When a video is playing, the thumbnail also shows the remaining time and current progress, along with badges for newly added or live streaming videos. In Apple's demo, pressing a thumbnail brings up a list view showing the selected video on top with a play button and plus button to add to a playlist. Tapping play will then show the video at full screen, with controls to let you skip ahead or back 10 seconds, see subtitles and go back to the previous page. Apple emphasized that video will only work when the car is parked for obvious safety reasons. But can't you already watch videos on CarPlay? As mentioned, video on CarPlay isn't brand new. With the launch of iOS 26.4 last year, Apple introduced video mirroring to CarPlay screens from an iPhone using AirPlay. This is not as advanced as the iOS 27 video browsing and playback feature we explored just previously, but it's another way to view video. Here's how that works. First, you enable AirPlay on supported apps and select your vehicle's CarPlay infotainment system as a mirroring source. Then, when you play a video on your iPhone, it should appear on the vehicle screen as well. I say should for a reason. The reality is that most CarPlay systems don't appear to allow mirroring from an iPhone yet, despite the fact that wireless CarPlay systems use AirPlay as the underlying Wi-Fi streaming layer. For instance, I expected to find YouTube videos demonstrating the feature in vehicles, even in beta, but I came up empty other than a CarPlay developer simulation on a laptop. Other hardware constraints may be an issue as well. Developers have noticed that CarPlay video mirroring only works on displays with a minimum 1920x1080 resolution, but many factory CarHead unit installations don't have that. Also, video streaming playback generally requires H265 or HEVC codec support, and 4GB or more of memory, and again, older CarPlay systems may lack those specs. This missing vehicle support may explain why Apple hasn't played up the feature more.
At WWDC 2025, the company said that automakers needed to implement CarPlay video functionality, both to allow for the extra hardware demands for video, and to detect when the vehicle is parked.
So far, though, not one automaker has announced support. It's clear then that Apple was strictly laying the groundwork for future implementation by devs and automakers. That begs the question, though.