Forget the Wires: How to Set Up Wireless CarPlay in Your New Chevrolet

Additionally, they provide one-tap access to phone calls and messages, so you can use your phone without holding it in hand. From a distraction perspective, Android Auto and CarPlay make everything safer, as interacting with the phone requires nothing but voice commands or touch input on the infotainment screen (hopefully, when parked).

General Motors is one of the companies that once bet big on phone projection systems, offering Android Auto and CarPlay in most models.

The carmaker is leaving that strategy behind, switching to Android Automotive in future electric vehicles.

However, if you purchased a new Chevrolet with a combustion engine, it should come with Android Auto and CarPlay as standard equipment. Most models also sport wireless connectivity, which means you won't need a cable to connect the smartphone to the head unit.

How to set up wireless CarPlay in your Chevrolet vehicle

Setting up wireless CarPlay in a Chevrolet model starts by double-checking that your iPhone has the correct settings.

To use CarPlay, you must also enable Siri, as the digital assistant is in charge of voice commands when the iPhone is connected to the infotainment system.

Next, you must make sure that your phone's Bluetooth is discoverable. Open the iPhone settings, go to Bluetooth, and check to see if the feature is enabled.

With your vehicle in park, look for the CarPlay icon on the infotainment screen. At this point, it should be greyed out, which means the feature isn't yet available. However, you're allowed to tap it, so click the icon, and you should now see an option called "Connect a phone." This is the menu that lets you initiate the CarPlay connection either wirelessly or with a cable.

Once you tap the connect option, you enter the pairing process. The car is ready to pair with the iPhone, so open the Bluetooth settings on your smartphone and look for an option called "myChevrolet." This is the vehicle profile, so you initiate the pairing process between the car and the smartphone when you tap it.

The two devices should now display a verification code on their screens. Check if the same code shows up, and tap the pair button on both displays.

The next steps involve additional permissions that are displayed on your smartphone and the infotainment screen. On the one hand, the iPhone wants to know if you allow it to synchronize contacts so you'll see names and phone numbers when making a phone call or sending and receiving text messages.

Your Chevrolet will also request additional prompts to enable CarPlay. Tap Continue, and you're ready to advance to the next step. The final step is to enable CarPlay on the smartphone, too, by tapping the prompt showing up on the screen.

At this point, you should already be able to run CarPlay in your Chevrolet without a cable. When the process completes, the CarPlay interface should show up automatically on your infotainment screen. You can customize the app list by going to CarPlay settings on your iPhone, where you can choose the software available in the vehicle, as well as the icon order.

The wireless version of CarPlay comes with a big benefit. Users can run CarPlay without plugging in their smartphone, so they can keep the iPhone in their backpack or pocket. On the other hand, you might still want to have a cable around, as plugging in the smartphone is often required because of the battery impact of wireless CarPlay.

I typically use CarPlay every time I get behind the wheel, but I lose at least a few battery percentage points, even for short trips, such as going to the supermarket. A long trip has a bigger impact on the iPhone's battery life, so plugging in the smartphone is almost mandatory to arrive at the destination with a full charge.

The good news is that certain Chevrolet models also support wired CarPlay, so you can continue running the in-car experience even when using a cable to connect the smartphone to the infotainment screen. The process is as convenient as in the case of wireless CarPlay, as you only need to establish the connection between the two devices and have the app drawer show up automatically.

You might need different USB cables depending on the Chevrolet model and the iPhone version. Most vehicles come with either USB-A or USB-C connectors, while the iPhone uses Apple's proprietary Lightning connector. The newly launched iPhone 15 comes with USB-C instead of the Lightning port, so you'll need either a USB-A to USB-C or a USB-C to USB-C cable to run CarPlay.