When Apple first announced that CarPlay would extend its reach to vehicles’ gauge clusters, reactions were mixed. On the one hand, tech companies aren’t car companies, and what might be sleek in rendering software might not work so well at 70 mph. On the other, car companies aren’t tech companies, and lots of native user interface design isn’t optimal or beautiful. What to do? Well, design consultancy firm BlackBox Infinite has been playing around with melding Apple’s user interface design language with iconic gauge clusters of the past, and the results are quite a sight to behold (you might remember that firm for the AR F1 idea).
Among OEMs right now, Ford is picking up the retro cluster theme ball and really running with it. The new Mustang’s digital gauge cluster features themes inspired by the Fox body Mustang of the 1980s and the 1967 Mustang, both of which have been smash hits among enthusiasts. In the case of the ’80s-inspired cluster theme, the soft green light might be coming from a screen instead of a bulb, but light is light and it works either way. Plus, humans like skeuomorphs, graphics that mimic physical objects. They’re often busy, but they’re comforting, as they remind us of the familiar. Think about how the save button in many computer programs looks like a diskette despite the diskette being an outmoded form of storage. So, what would similar treatments look like for other cars? Let’s take a look.
First up, here’s a cluster skin inspired by the widowmaker, the old Porsche 911 Turbo. See, Porsche has already announced that it’ll let the next generation of Apple CarPlay take over its digital instrument clusters, so a treatment like this really makes a great deal of sense. Sure, modern water-cooled models and EVs won’t need quite so many gauges dedicated to oil monitoring, but the five-circle layout with crescent-moon temperature and oil pressure gauges is a classic, and still works with an update to digitization and fresher fonts.
Next up, it’s Ferrari’s turn, with a digital cluster skin inspired by the dials of the iconic Testarossa. Ferrari has announced it’s ditching its built-in navigation systems for Apple CarPlay, and a throwback to the days of Crockett and Tubbs would definitely up the fun factor. In keeping with next-gen CarPlay norms, Blackbox Infinite has decided to use Apple’s closing circles as pointers on virtual analog dials, freeing up space for additional digital information.
More a fan of Japanese metal? How about a cluster layout inspired by the original Acura NSX? While this mockup looks quite clean, it also features a bit of a compromise. To get the fuel gauge inside the speedometer dial, the zero-marker for speed has been moved from being at seven o’clock to eight o’clock. While that sounds like a subtle difference, it does take away some of the distinctiveness of the speedometer.
However, the NSX doesn’t have a gauge cluster as iconic as the digital one in the Honda S2000. This rendering’s properly crisp, with a nice bounding box around the speedometer, song information subtly replacing the odometer, and the bars in the auxiliar gauges for fuel level and water temperature being de-italicized for legibility. Wouldn’t this look fantastic on the dash of a new Civic Type R?
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of old-school digital gauge clusters, how about the iconic dashboard of the C4 Corvette? Granted, General Motors is phasing out Apple CarPlay, so this is a bit of an awkward one, but man, is this ever a throwback. While changing the bars for the tachometer and speedometer to constant-radius arcs does drop the funkiness a touch, the result is substantially more legible than what the C4 offered, and the overall result still looks the business.
Perhaps the most removed revamp from the original is this reimagination of the Lancia Delta Integrale cluster. The crosshair funkiness of the speedometer and tachometer are still intact, but overall legibility has been cleaned up so much that this would look great in just about any performance car, provided the typo in the tachometer is fixed. It’s a distinctly modern take on a classic theme, borrowing merely a few simple design elements to
While Apple’s own concepts of how CarPlay could fill your gauge cluster often leave something to be desired from both an aesthetic and an informational standpoint, these concepts are far better than merely okay. If the next generation of Apple CarPlay was used in this manner, I could get behind it taking over the entire dashboard.
(Photo credits: BlackBox Infinite)
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the option is cool, but there is absolutely no chance that anything even remotely as user-end customizable as this is going to happen directly from the manufacturers or apple.
I like the option for more options, like my Bolt has I think 3 styles, all fairly similar, and 1 is even called classic but still doesn’t have an analog speedometer. I’d prefer more like Ford has done with the Mustang than having yet another thing tied to the infotainment/carplay.
Actually would prefer infotainment not being tied to anything but itself, but that genie’s out of the bottle and apparently wishing itself more power.
This is pretty sweet-one minor quibble, why do all the “needles” look different and have to have a streamer after them, I don’t get this on an analog gauge, are digital ones still not able to quite render fast enough for smooth needle movement so they have to mask it with this streak effect?
Our GLI uses a streaking needle sweep as well. I don’t think there is a way to change it outside of changing the cluster to numerical readouts only. I think they did it just for the effect or maybe sense of speed, who knows
well that’s kind of my point-is it seems like a cheesy effect imo instead of just showing a needle similar to analog cars especially in the case above where they’re trying to mimic old analog gauges
I want one with a taped-over check engine light.
Now this is something to get excited about.
Would definitely go for a K.I.T.T. themed dash, so long as Turbo Boost actually worked.
Given the Heat Dome, it would probably just set A/C to max.
Apple makes great UI design, and this third party design company also did a great job recreating classic instrument clusters, but the main problem here – and it is a major problem – is the lack of variety. The sameness is intense and any variation comes from the genius of the original designs from the 80s. It feels like having a great band like The Rolling Stones play Mozart, Nirvana and Pink Floyd using the same instruments. Very well done, obviously, but also very similarly sounding.
Variety is the spice of life!
Agreed on the iPhone (though I’d still rank Windows Phone 10 as the best phone interface), but imo MacOS is a wreck. I can’t stand their UX paradigm.
RIP Windows Phone.. no one takes me seriously when I say it had the best interface! Their downfall was a lack of app support
Yep, it was an excellent interface, they had good hardware, but the lack of app support killed it.
The irony of Apple CarPlay allowing you to customization options for the UI of your vehicle is humorous.
This is some shmuck imaging what it could be like if apple did allow customization. Which they won’t.
When the third version comes out they might allow you to pick from a handful of curated color themes
100% I had the same thought, A) they probably won’t allow this B) if they do and I say this as a UI designer who the F will actually be able to make good custom skins, I’ve dabbled with making static ones for kicks and it’s not nearly as easy as it seems-which is probably at least part of why they’re basically just copying existing designs.
Exactly this. We are on the 9th generation of Apple Watch and you’re still limited to what faces Apple allows you to have.
Bonus points for Chemical Brothers in the S2000.
Eh, I prefer Star Guitar to Block Rockin Beats.
I just liked that it was period-specific to the car it’s emulating!
I liked the choice of Electric Avenue for the 80’s C4!
I didn’t notice amongst all the digital noise. Nice!
PRM ?
104 MPH ?
What were those designs on?
Not only that, but PRM /100?!?! Divided by 100? So it’s showing 0.26 PRMs. Were they trying for Minutes Per Revolution to be different?
Maybe a dashboard for a tractor?
🙂
Its the new version of WinAmp skins!
But does it really whip the llama’s ass?
lmao I haven’t thought of that in like 20 years
<applause>
Dayyyyyym! Now that’s a deep (UI) cut!
</applause>
The other side of the coin in all of this (that I just considered) is that, wasn’t it not that long ago we were all talking about the horrors of data collection? Having apps/access allowed to the car’s telemetry is exactly this, plus the added “convenience” of needing updates and such.
Can’t have our cake and smush it in someone’s face too, folks.
Is it data collection if it stays locally in the vehicle?
Well, if it has permission to access the data, that info has to go somewhere…
yeah true
Yeah, wtf that was literally last month! Also, I don’t need a DLC for my car gauges. This solves a problem that doesn’t exist.
This type of fun custom cluster stuff is the only thing that would make annoying gauge screens acceptable.
This is one of the things OEMs are lacking big time, customization! everything is a screen but nothing can be configurable as we want. Give us an app where we can create our own designs, loaded them into the car via Internet and boom, done. This is where the business is, look at Fortnite and the huge amount of money they make just with customization of players, etc. How do I know? My kid ask me for gift cards for his games so often.
Ransomware hackers approve this message!
Yes, I would like to buy some GM Bucks from you kind stranger, so I can customize my dash
“Yes hello? Hi, my son he, -PUT THAT DOWN, sorry, my son somehow bought $2000 of something he calls Elon Coin? I handed him my phone to open the car so he could grab his iPad from the back seat -I SAID DONT TOUCH THAT CONNOR sorry where were we? Yeah he did something with the Tesla app and now my dashboard only shows a dancing John Wick and I can’t see anything else. My bank app shows four $500 charges from Tesla for, it says, Booster Packs? Is there anyway we can revert these charges and get my car back to normal? CONNOR I SWEAR- Please, I just want to drive my car”
Giving customers the power to fully customize their screens leads to crazy chaos. Remember MySpace? It was a giant mess visually and I think a major reason for their downfall.
The solution to customization is to limit it to the pre-designed ones: Light-mode, Dark-mode, 4 different main color modes. Remember these classic physical ones only came in one version!
Hi visibility mode with inverted colours
Bugatti makes a nice cluster, but for my money I choose a Geo Metro one for my Blackwing.
https://geometroforum.com/looking-instrument-cluster-with-tachometer-t61238.html
Imagine if you could get a large set of these and set it to randomize to a different style every time you start the car, would almost make me excited to hop in the car on the way to work.
Hazard? Maybe. Extremely cool? Absolutely.
that C4 one is awesome
I’ve always wanted an early C4 just for the dashboard. Thanks Apple for keeping my hopes alive.
Gimme a Winamp themed skin for my gauge cluster and I’m in. These examples are nearly there already.
That would whip the llama’s ass.
I would make everything look like digital dashes from the 80s. Probably 88 T/A digital dash. No biases for them or anything.
That dash does rock, like pretty much all GM 80s/90s digital dashes actually.
Yeah they have a very 80s cyberpunk look to them and I find them very cool. Same with the 300zx’s digital dash.
I recall car journo’s bitching to high heaven about digital gauges back in the 80’s..now they’re cool.
We are definitely enjoying our simulated nostalgia.
It’s too bad because I definitely recall when the future was supposed to be better than the past.
These are great – so many wonderful and fanciful gauge clusters from the past could be recreated. IIRC the early GMC GMT400’s had really unique gauges. The cluster in my 2010 Acura TSX was great with the speedometer and tach needles spun from the outside, freeing the center for digital screens. Lets bring back fun.
I’d like a display that mimics the electroluminescent 66-67 Charger instrument panel.
For a gauge-hound like me, this is nerdvana.
Man those are dope. You can already do something similar with Android apps like AA Torque to get tons of gauges and info on your infotainment display, but being able to change the actual cluster would be awesome, if Apple would let it happen.
I think it’s more about the OEMs letting that happen, not Apple.
And of course a bunch of Android developers willing to work on it.
Customization is not Apple’s forte. I’m honestly just assuming they’ll give you a default instrument cluster and say “we’ve decided what you want”. It’s kind of their thing.
I agree. What I meant was it’s not up to Apple to allow Android Auto and their developers to start working on custom gauge clusters. OEMs would need to allow them just as they did with Apple
Oh yeah the app I mentioned is a hacky workaround. By no means automaker or Google approved.
Do they have a version with only a strip speedometer that goes to 85 with 55 highlighted, and a tiny gas gauge off in the corner?
And absolutely giant idiot lights that take up space where actual gauges would go, if only you hadn’t cheaped out like my parents routinely did in the 80s.
I love not having a tach in my truck /s
Ahh, the good old OVER SPEED light.
Hah mine doesn’t even have that. It is a 92 D250 and they didn’t come with tachs but did have wiring for one if I am not mistaken and if you wanted a tach it was this goofy ass thing that goes behind the steering wheel on the steering column. Since I do not have one when I go to shift I just shift when I feel like I am not gaining speed anymore haha.
My 87 Jetta GL, automatic, with tach. My 89 Golf GL manual, GIANT CLOCK
Well yeah didn’t you know you only shift to certain gears depending on the hour /s haha
Ooh look at someone with his fancy clock.
My dad had an ’85 F-150 and an aversion to spending money. It had, dead center, a big square with some lines on it. It also had a manual transmission so under the square was a slim rectangle that had another, smaller rectangle inside of it.
Haha I remember these. Some prefer fine art over clocks and gauges