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"According to statistics published by Apple, 79% of U.S. car buyers wouldn't even consider purchasing a vehicle without CarPlay". Wow! If this is true then the US car market is certainly different to that in the UK. I presume the people surveyed were those owning or actually able to buy cars; do 79% of car buyers even use iPhone over Android?

In the UK, factors like running-costs, safety, cabin and boot (trunk) size figure alongside comfort and driving-pleasure. ICE is certainly a factor but as likely to appear as a desire for Bluetooth, SatNav and access to music.

I have a (much-maligned) BMW with CarPlay. BMW has never (to my knowledge) charged a recurring fee for CarPlay in the UK: my car came with it as part of a spec-upgrade package. I'm not impressed personally - perhaps it's BMW's implementation but it only uses about 75% of my display's width and it barely exploits the iDrive controller's versatility. Navigation is little better than the BMW-native system (that includes real-time traffic status) though messaging and other less essential apps are clearly superior.

It's worth mentioning that I do not like touch-screens in cars. They implicitly need the driver to look at them to place their fingers on buttons etc whilst a joystick-style controller (eg iDrive) can just click from one control to the next and then press them using a physical button that's always in the same place. The driver's eyes stay on the road for much more of the time: that's a good thing whatever you think of the stereotypical BMW Tesla driver.

crowley said:

Not sure what’s so disgusting about flat head screws, but meh, whatever floats your boat.

A major selection criterion will be something that simplifies/speeds assembly in mass production. Flat heads are less good at self/quick location for robots/workers in a hurry and less resistant to slippages, hence damage and increased rejection rates.

You could also argue that they're also less attractive for device aesthetics but that's a whole new can of worms.

longpath said:

Never grant the state any power you would not entrust to your worst enemy. This isn’t a hard concept.

But your worst enemy already has it...

I don't see the logic here. Since these are foreign entities, doesn't that leave the tools and capabilities available to everyone except the US?

As a foreigner, I would think the US would want, eg, NSA, to have access even if only to develop counter-measures (and the 'I don't trust NSA argument' doesn't work here because, if they're not trustworthy, they'll acquire the tools anyway).

The size of the notch is interesting as it's bigger than you'd expect just for a camera. Perhaps someone wants software to cope with a notch and not need to change again if the notch size changes.

I wonder what might fit in a bigger notch.