Apple has plans to expand CarPlay to control every aspect of an owner’s vehicle, acting as its central control panel to manipulate everything from the car’s air condition and heating system, seating alignment, radio, and more. 

The company is also eyeing the software to host information about the vehicle’s state, such as displaying the speedometer, fuel gauge, and tachometer. 

Reportedly codenamed internally as “IronHeart”, Mark Gurman’s report via Bloomberg notes that having such deep vehicle integration would require the consent and cooperation of manufactures to jump onboard. 

Further, considering the early stages of the development, there’s always the chance Apple ultimately decides on scrapping the project altogether. 

The move definitely sounds like Apple is taking one more step to actually creating some semblance of a much-rumoured Apple Car, and while the company physically releasing a custom-designed, in-house built full-fledged vehicle is most likely at minimum a complete decade away, the early steps are no doubt in the works. 

Recently, Apple has more greater leaps publicly into the car market besides simply CarPlay. Over the last years, the company has begun pushing CarKey, a digital NFC-based card you can add to your iPhone or Apple Watch which allows you to open and start your car without the need for a traditional physical. 

To read Pocket-lint's complete overview on everything we know about a potential Apple Car, click here