Apple's CarPlay reaches boats as Microsoft pries open the iPhone clipboard

Apple is extending CarPlay onto boat helms through a partnership with pontoon builders. It has also separately agreed to allow Windows users to copy and paste to and from an iPhone.

CarPlay spreads from cars to pontoon boats

The boating side is from two pontoon brands owned by MasterCraft Boat Holdings, Crest and Balise. Both brands will feature CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.

This includes all new Balise and the Crest Conquest and Caribbean lines beginning with the 2027 model year. Apple used the on-water software marine navigation app Savvy Navvy, which sends its charts straight to the helm display. The features are for those who plan their trips before they leave the dock.

The founder and CEO of Savvy Navvy, Jelte Liebrand, said boaters “have been asking for a modern infotainment system for years” and a route mapped at home shows at the helm once you board.

The display can show through CarPlay day, night or satellite charts, 2D or 3D views, live ETA and speed, marina and anchorage search, saved markers, nearby vessel traffic and shared locations of friends on the water.

The first compatible boats will be available next month, and dealers tried the setup during on-water demos at Crest Marine’s annual dealer meeting.

In November 2025, Cryptopolitan reported that even Tesla, after years of CEO Elon Musk resisting the feature, had begun internal testing of standard CarPlay. A McKinsey study from 2024 found that about a third of buyers treat CarPlay absence as a dealbreaker.

The same report also noted General Motors moving to ditch CarPlay, and Audi and Mercedes-Benz pulling back from the premium CarPlay Ultra.

Microsoft’s EU request pries open iPhone’s clipboard

Apple has agreed to make it possible for iPhone users to copy content on their phone and paste it on a Windows PC and vice versa.

Microsoft filed an interoperability request under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act on March 25, 2026.

There was no equivalent of Apple’s Universal Clipboard, which already syncs copied content between Apple’s own devices. Microsoft wanted continuous, low-friction syncing.

Apple replied on April 27 that it was moving the request to the next phase and cautioned that a workable solution may not be feasible or appropriate, particularly if it compromised the integrity of the operating system or Apple’s intellectual property.

On June 26, Apple reversed that caution, confirming it would develop a solution and sketching how it would work.

Both the clipboard reversal and Apple’s careful phrasing are rooted in Article 6(7) of the DMA, which gives developers in the EU the ability to request access to features of iOS hardware and software.

Apple’s own developer documentation describes an eligibility check within 20 working days, a project plan, then development. That structure means the clipboard feature could end up more limited to the EU than worldwide shipping.

On the technical side, Apple said the clipboard tool will use the same patterns as its Accessory Notifications and Accessory Live Activities frameworks from iOS 26.5, and that Microsoft will route through AccessorySetupKit, the pairing framework Meta objected to in its own EU request.

Users would consent once per device. Apple called the work a “significant engineering effort” and said it hopes to finish development by the fall of 2027, followed by a developer beta.

Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.