Ferrari Is Dropping Navigation Because Our Phones are Better

No more in-car navigation—you'll have to rely on Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

By: Anthony Alaniz

Jun 14, 2024 at 11:00am ET

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Ferrari buyers will soon have to bring their own satellite navigation system with them in future models. The Italian automaker has finally realized that your smartphone is simply better at navigation, and it's planning to remove the feature entirely, including from the new Purosangue and 12Cilindri.

According to Drive, Emanuele Carando, Ferrari's head of product marketing, said that phone mirroring is "the most user-friendly possibility" and the most updated, making the dedicated system redundant and obsolete. Ferrari knows its owners don't use their cars as everyday commuters, so it thought it wouldn't tax them by having them learn a specific in-car navigation system they'll likely rarely use.

The majority of people worldwide have a smartphone today, not just Ferrari owners, and they're "the most useful things they can use on every car," according to Carando. There was a swift, vocal backlash to General Motors' announcement that it'd drop support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in favor of its in-house software. Ferrari seems to be taking the opposite approach in at least one regard.

It's been about a decade since Apple CarPlay and Android Auto launched, and both have entrenched themselves as must-have features in nearly every new car today. Customers expect the technology in their vehicles after automakers struggled for years to provide good user experiences with their proprietary systems, so we doubt this will ruffle any feathers.

Ferrari is just giving the people what they want.