I recently got a chance to take a spin in a couple of new 2024 GMC Acadias and days later, I still feel like they are excellent family haulers. Part of the reason why comes down the the large 15-inch display serving as the centerpiece of the crossover’s interior. When so many automakers get infotainment wrong, GMC is doing it right and maybe everyone else should follow its lead.
Infotainment is a huge part of how a new car works. The giant screens of today hold more than your Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but your car’s vitals, settings, and HVAC systems. Screens can control whether your seats are heating or ventilating, screens can control where your vents are pointing, and in extreme cases, screens can control which direction your car will be traveling. So it’s crucial to do it well, or else you, the automaker, may lose some sales and face the scorn of frustrated drivers.
[Full Disclosure: GMC invited me out to South Carolina to test the 2024 GMC Acadia Denali and AT4. The automaker flew me out, put me up in a resort that cost more than my rent, and provided enough ice-cold drinks to offset the insane temperatures and humidity.]
The current state of car infotainment is pretty wild. Every automaker seems to have a different way to achieve more or less the same thing. I suppose I’ll start with the one everyone knows and that’s Tesla. The automaker has a minimalist interior design philosophy, which means hidden vents, very few buttons, and a giant center display that controls everything. It looks very “clean” and uncluttered, something quite trendy today.
It’s no secret that Tesla is obsessed with its minimalist aesthetic, even if it comes at the disadvantage of the driver. In fairness, after playing with Tesla’s nearly no-button approach you can get used to it.
But I am of the belief that a really good system isn’t one that you get used to, but could use the moment you hop inside. In the past of buttons and small screens — or no screens at all — it wasn’t rocket surgery figuring out how to adjust your HVAC vents or how to get the car’s read of its current fuel economy, you just hit a button.
Next, let’s move to Volkswagen. This automaker’s modern infotainment era was baffling for the longest time. VW’s infotainment screen hid options behind menus and was remarkably laggy, even in regular production vehicles. But the worst part is that VW recognized that many buyers still wanted buttons, then totally half-baked it. VW’s infotainment system had an infamous touch capacitive slider that, for some inexplicable reason, didn’t even light up at night. And VW wanted you to control your climate temperature with that! Then, VW managed to make steering wheel controls finicky, so your whole interface experience was a solid sucker.
Thankfully, Volkswagen has openly admitted to screwing this up and real buttons will be making a return on steering wheels. The touch sliders are still out there on some VW infotainment systems, but it looks like VW is changing that, too.
Let’s give you another example. Volvo has a Google-based infotainment system. I dig this because I love infotainment systems that are as easy to navigate as your phone screen is. Yet, even Volvo committed the sin of placing frequent operations on the screen. Sure, the climate temperature is always on the screen, but you have to go into the menu if you want to adjust the airflow direction, fan speeds, or the dual-zone temps. Why can’t you just grab a knob or hit a switch?
I could go on, but other automakers bury common settings in layers of menus, add a touchpad like a crutch, or continue the aforementioned frustrating problem of putting common functions on the screen. Again, you could get used to all of this stuff.
Of course, not every automaker and not every model is like this. To give one example would be the Mazda CX-30, which doesn’t pile everything into its infotainment screen and gives you nice buttons. The Toyota Tundra TRD Pro I tested last year also divorced common functions from the infotainment, again giving you buttons to play with and a nice large volume knob.
The Lexus LX 600 was an oddball with its dedicated vehicle function display, but at least it still had some buttons to hold, turn, and push.
While buttons may not look cool and aren’t nearly as futuristic, they work. Buttons mean you don’t have to look at a screen to raise your temperature or to adjust volume. Buttons mean you can feel some heat in your seat without accidentally putting a song on repeat. We live in a world where we’re trying to stop drivers from being distracted, yet put their car’s functions on a big tablet or behind touch capacitive interfaces.
GMC Does This Great
So here’s where I think GMC can take a win. The 2024 GMC Acadia has a hefty 15-inch screen as its interior centerpiece. Like other automakers, this screen has a bunch of functions behind pages and menus. However, GMC has thought about the end user here.
The first thing I liked about the GMC Acadia’s infotainment display was the fact that navigation didn’t take an IT degree. There’s a clear home button at the top left of the screen and going through the system’s pages felt like using a big tablet. It’s not the easiest system I’ve ever used, but you aren’t going to have steam coming from between your ears trying to figure out your Acadia’s average fuel economy. Google is also built-in, so Maps is right there and you can ask Google Assistant questions. But you still get full-screen Apple CarPlay if you’re an iPhone user and Android Auto connectivity with your phone.
I also like how the display has a constant lower taskbar. It doesn’t matter if you have a giant map up or are trying to view the crossover’s up to nine cameras, there’s a taskbar right there with common functions ready for you to tap. Admittedly, I would have loved for the heated and ventilated seats to have been buttons rather than screen prompts, but at least the function is within easy reach without having to open any menu.
What I really dig is how GMC arranged the buttons. I get it, the buttons don’t look great, but GMC made them work. The 2024 GMC Acadia, like the GMC Sierra EV and the Ford F-150 Lightning, has a giant screen. However, there’s a large volume knob down at the bottom. There’s no tapping the screen or anything like that. Just twist the large knob to bring on the tunes.
However, unlike the F-150 Lightning, GMC gives its Sierra EV and GMC Acadia a button bank for common functions. Defroster, fan speed, and temperature options are just a flick away. But wait, there’s more! Next to the driver is another button bank allowing you to change drive mode and AWD settings on the fly. These are real, tactile switches, too, yet they don’t spoil the nice interior. If anything, I love them because it sort of feels like being in a cockpit.
Now, while I like GMC’s setup, I will ding it a few times here. Like other automakers, GMC has placed the HVAC blending functions behind a menu. Likewise, the power window lockout and light settings are behind two different menus. The toggle for fog lights should not be behind any menu, guys! A simple button will do the trick. Likewise, there’s no reason why the power window lockout function couldn’t be a switch on the driver door panel like it has been on so many cars for so many years.
So, while I would love more automakers to follow GMC’s lead here, I’d love to see it get taken further.
I’m not saying everything needs to have a button, but just the common stuff. While adding buttons to an infotainment display and interior seems like a little, inconsequential thing, I think buyers of the 2024 GMC Acadia will love it. Remember that the buyers of this crossover are likely to be families, people who don’t want to fuss with an annoying screen. Heck, the person behind the wheel may even occasionally be a teen driver, someone who doesn’t need additional distractions. So, good on GMC and I hope other automakers eventually arrive at a similar idea.
(Images: Author, unless otherwise noted.)
Meh. I honestly think Hyundai’s current systems are better. Touch screen but with physical HVAC and radio controls.
I don’t mind a screen as long is using Google OS or Apple Carplay. Maps always know where I am headed based on my previous destinations/current location and its just a tap. Spotify starts playing where I left it where my Alexa or Phone was playing before jumping into the car. HVAC set to Auto and always preconditioning does the trick for those hot/cold days.
What kills the experience is a bad internet connection or lag in inputs, something that a reliable Bluetooth connection with my downloaded playlists or buttons avoid.
Automotive UI is, and has always been, an underappreciated thing. Usually, when I get into a new-to-me car, there’s a learning period. ESPECIALLY with a screen. I recently borrowed my dad’s 2024 Ram truck, and never even bothered trying to figure out any of the actual functionality beyond bare bones point-a-to-point-b because it just wasn’t intuitive at all. On the other end of the spectrum, I got a Mazda CX-5 loaner a while back, and it was astounding how well the UI was designed on that car! Sitting with my hands and arms where they naturally fell while driving, the iDrive style knob was exactly under my fingertips. It took about 2 minutes to get the hang of the major buttons around it. Necessities were intuitive. Getting to the deeper functionalities was also intuitive to the point that I ended up setting the whole car up exactly how I wanted while sitting in traffic on my way home. No manual required. In my E61 BMW with the… second generation iDrive system, I think, it’s so bad that I still haven’t figured out how to control the HVAC system all the way after a year of ownership. I haven’t toured modern automotive UI systems, but Mazda nailed it. That’s a series of articles for you right there: a comprehensive consumer service series on automotive UIs. Who gets it, and who is gawdoffal.
Cars shouldn’t have infotainment screens.
When will we have good voice control for this stuff? Then we can forget about having to touch anything.
It’s pretty much here. I just got a 23 Volvo with the google OS. I can say “hey google, adjust cabin temp to 72 degrees” and it does. I can turn on the heated/cooled seats the same way. I jump in and ask it to play me something on Spotify and boom done.
I drive a Polestar 2 which also has the Google OS. It’s great.
TBH though with preconditioning and auto climate, I hardly ever have to adjust anything. Just the temperature every now and again. The heated seats/wheel come on automatically. The demister comes on automatically. If I remember to pre-condition the car, it barely mists up (but there’s a hard button for that anyway)
It all just kind of works without you thinking about it, and when it does need some input from you, the voice control does most of it anyway.
I’m pretty excited about the preconditioning. Haven’t used it yet as the weather has been mild but this winter it will be very welcomed. Being able to set the time and have it ready is fantastic.
Voice control is not and never will be the answer. It doesn’t work if you have the windows open. It doesn’t work if anyone in the car is having a conversation. It doesn’t work if your particular accent is not friendly to the voice recognition algorithm (although that could theoretically be fixed someday). It’s annoying to interrupt your music/podcast/whatever to change the temperature setting.
Just give us buttons and dials, dammit. Stop fixing something that wasn’t broken.
I’m no Luddite but really hope my pre-tesla car with buttons for everything never gets totaled. At this point I don’t want a single screen or touch UI at all.
Reminds me of the screen in the Polestar 2.
Right size, well integrated, easy to use.
My 2019 Ram 1500 has the plain RA2 radio, so wll physical controls and no touch screen. I am very happy with it. And I can upgrade to an 8″ double DIN touchscreen and still have normal controls. I don’t see the point in digital everything.
The latest gen Ram 8″ touchscreen setup might be the perfect one. Everything that should be a button, is. Everything that should be a dial, is.
Sadly, you can’t get it if you want any other features. Basically every option requires the stupid 12″ one that moves a bunch of stuff back onto the screen.
Another vehicle that gets it right but I haven’t noticed much mention of is the JL Wrangler, at least with the 8.4” screen (can’t speak for the smaller or larger).
There is a full set of buttons and knobs for the HVAC — the screen is not needed, and everything works with the screen shut off, which there is another physical button for. And when the screen is on as it normally is, everything is reflected there the way one would expect.
There’s a row of quick-access graphic tabs at the bottom of the screen for favorite function or function screens, which are easy to swap out and which are always present regardless of which screen you’re on.
On the home infotainment screen, there are three source buttons that are easy to configure as you like (just tap and hold, no going into menus).
The radio, etc. is completely operable using the large volume knob on the dash and the two rocker switches on the back of the steering wheel rim.
Sound functions are only on those two switches on the backside; only driving functions are on the visible buttons on the front of the wheel.
Yup – the ‘18 to’23 JL Wranglers with the 8.4” screen work well just as you described (I know bc I got one!), but they changed the interior in ‘24 and I’m not sure how the new setup works… but the screen is bigger, the vents smaller and overall uglier IMO!
So even this good example you bring up is extinct now, too, it would seem
I have a ‘24 JL Wrangler and I can attest that it is still is just as good. I can control everything with physical buttons other than selecting the source for my audio (and it has wireless CarPlay). And the new screen, while giant, looks fantastic in direct sunlight. I consider the whole package to be the best of all three of my cars.
Hard to imagine any vehicle with such a tall and long hood giving it a huge frontal blind spot wouldn’t be at a disadvantage off-roading or maneuvering in tight spots.
However, it can be imaged insurance companies deciding whether or not to total an wrecked Acadia AT4 based on the cost to replace one or more of its broken trick wheel arch marker lights.
I still hate it. Let me explain:
I don’t want a screen. When I get where I’m going, I’m going to get out of the vehicle. While I’m driving, I am NOT going to be looking at the giant viewscreen because that’s when I’m busy looking at traffic. I have established two times when I really don’t want to be looking at the screen: when I am not using the vehicle, and when I am. That covers just about everything, I think.
Can I just have knobs and buttons back? If one fails, it won’t take the rest of them with it. If the radio goes toes-up I might still have a chance with the air conditioning.
NOTE: this is the issue I am currently having with my 15 year old Prius. The center display controls lots of stuff and this model year is known to have microcracks in the connector pins. So my AC works, but it cannot be adjusted. I can switch it to defrost or not by the steering wheel buttons. The radio will turn on, but won’t respond to any other inputs – this includes the Off button. New center units are thousands of dollars; fortunately there’s a shop in Indiana that specializes in fixing them.
Screens suck. They’re answering questions nobody asked and introducing problems that didn’t used to exist.
The funny thing is, there are aftermarket suppliers who sell physical button banks that can be wired into Tesla vehicles and set to perform certain functions. We’ve gone from people replacing their old head-units with a touchscreen, to people adding buttons to their touchscreen-only cars.
Now that I say that, I think it would be interesting if some automaker were to include a row of functional buttons that could be programmed by the owner for whatever tasks they wanted. Kind of like Jeep’s customizable AUX toggles, except for normal vehicle interface functions instead of add-on accessories.
My Kia has a button with a star on it that can be programmed to do whatever you want. After four years, I have never decided what I want it to do that isn’t already done by other buttons. *shrug*
At first glance I thought that was what that row of buttons below the screen on the Acadia was – it would be great if you could configure the screen and ‘move’ whichever controls you want to be above that row of physical buttons. I don’t see how custom buttons would compromise safety any more than software updates and ‘drive modes’ customize the layout of touchscreens, but this would be a great way to make use of modern technology in a way that actually benefits folks who want a physical button for what they consider to be the most important stuff.
This is essentially the same as creating your own keyboard shortcuts on your computer – by default, the car would have the ones that are likely to be most popular (e.g. Ctrl-Z), but if you want the first button you reach for from the steering wheel to set the child lock on the rear passenger side door, that should be doable too.
It looks like they had time to design the dashboard with a screen in mind, then at the last minute an exec said “needs to be bigger” so they just extended the screen higher and called it a day.
You briefly mentioned the F-150 Lightning, but that screen design was taken from the Mach-E. It’s the same functionality you mention in the GMC sans the buttons across the bottom, which I get was your whole point.
I would add though that the physical wheel embedded onto the screen in the Lightning and Mach-E isn’t just a volume knob, it’s contextual to whatever you’re doing. Adjusting the fan speed? Tap the fan icon and spin the wheel. Same for heated seat levels, HVAC temp setting, etc.
I thought I would hate so many controls being touch-based, but the reality is I rarely ever want to change them. The HVAC “Auto” setting has three fan speed levels, so if you want the HVAC to hurry up and cool down / heat up, it’s still just that single icon to do so, no need to bring up the whole HVAC menu.
Same goes for heated seats. I leave that set to “auto”, and it does a great job interpreting the outside temp and inside air settings to figure out if heating the seat makes sense or not. I really never need to think about it.
Unlike Tesla, all of the “normal” car controls have buttons/knobs/toggles where you’d expect them to be. Things like door mirrors, window lockout (which also activates the rear door child lock), headlights, wipers, steering wheel controls, cruise control, air vents, etc are all physical controls in their typical spots. It also doesn’t require a screen tap to open the glove box, which is one I could never figure out why that needed to be electronic.
I’m sorry, I don’t get it – the switches with the screen. This is more confusing. Are they for toggling up and down for the icons on the screen above – like for Defrost or On/Off (what does that do?). does that bottom row on the screen change depending on the menu?
why not put the icons on the buttons and give more room on the screen? can you also touch the screen to do the same thing?
Geez, I’m getting old…
Window lockout behind a menu is fine. If you have kids, you turn it on. You don’t really ever have to turn it off.
all the HVAC being behind the menu is fine too. The 2 settings that people use are Auto or Defrost. There are buttons for those!
As long as the window lockout button still allows the driver to roll down the windows, I’m in complete agreement. Some Toyotas (and I’m sure others) don’t allow any windows to move except the driver’s when the lockout button is engaged, much to my frustration when I forget to reengage the switch before my kids get in the car.
That’s fine if the window lockout only locks the rear windows. If it locks the front passenger window a finicky spouse will get upset.
Agreed on the comments to the lock button – my GTI has it such that I can still do all 4 (all one touch as well!) from the driver’s seat.
My only complaint after owning one for a month is that I wish there was a bit more customizability in terms of the home screen look. The black with thin icons can be challenging to read at times and I wish there were chunkier icons/fonts that could be used or perhaps a more colorful theming.
I am (not) surprised that car companies aren’t paying more attention to accessibility – as they transition into being tech companies, they’re going to realize that this is something that matters to customers. Heck, even just allowing you to embiggen the text on the screen would be a start.
Can we get a shout out for the Kia K5 as well? My wife just bought a 2024 in March and it has physical buttons for pretty much everything, the screen is only for CarPlay, entertainment and navigation (It also has actual gauges which I’m happy about).
While the screen is small by modern standards, Kia understands that it’s exactly as big as it needs to be. I’ve mentioned the K5 here before a few times and it’s too bad in our SUV-obsessed market that it’s not getting more press. We’ve never bought Korean before (although built in Georgia) and I’ve been pleasantly surprised, it’s a good car all around so far.
I’m with you Matt, I have a 2020 Soul and everything just seems intuitive. The screen is perfectly readable when displaying a map. I also like that it has simple knobs for climate control underneath. There’s never been a single time I’ve had to fumble around looking for my climate functions.
I have 2 GM’s with touchscreen info units, a 2017 Volt & a 2023 Sierra.
While driving, I almost never touch the screen & everything I actually need to drive and stay comfortable are controlled by buttons.
The only time I touch the screen driving is if I want to change the camera view when towing (GM’s transparent trailer is fantastic).
I guess I’m a little perplexed. GM gets a lot of bad press because of their dislike of CarPlay. Having said that, this new generation has CarPlay, and you mentioned it only twice! What’s the latest with CarPlay and GM now?
Exactly! I thought GM was ridding themselves of Carplay. Worst decision ever!
They’re taking away CarPlay for the electric models only atm. I think GM is trying to experiment while they can since they don’t sell as many electric vehicles.
It is my understanding that GM’s hate for CarPlay hasn’t reached all models just yet. So the Acadia will work with CarPlay just fine! Sadly, I no longer have an iPhone to test with, but videos out there show a huge colorful CarPlay interface.
So far they have said they are only removing it on EVs. Maybe it’s just a way to save the extra $0.10 because EVs need every cost cutting measure they can get
I can’t remember the last time I adjusted where the air comes from. My climate control has been set to 70 and auto for the entire 3 years I’ve owned the car. I also can’t remember the last time I actually used the volume knob. My hand is on the wheel and my thumb is right next to the volume roller on the wheel, why would I take my hand off the wheel to use a knob on the dash?
This is absurd.
I share driving duties with my wife and we’re very different people when it comes to HVAC stuff. She likes 70-degree-ish air blowing on her torso and legs plus heated seats while I just want a blizzard right in my face and seat ventilation on full blast.
I faced a somewhat similar situation with my Acadia event drive partner. He liked it at 70 degrees while I was trying my best to turn myself into a snowwoman. We switched seats, punched the temp buttons, adjusted the vents with our hands, and off we went. There was no playing with a picture of a vent like you do in a Tesla, no bringing up a dual-zone menu, or anything like that.
As for volume, it’s still nice having a physical knob. We recently upgraded the stereo in our Scion iQ to screen that’s all touch capacitive like the one that was in the VW ID.4. Like the ID.4, if you aren’t the driver, adjusting the volume involves tapping the volume area until you hit the level you want. A knob is just better at that simple task.
If anything I’d rather have knobs for temp than a redundant volume control. Knobs are way better than toggles for adjusting temperature. My car has all of that stuff, and I’m not saying they shouldn’t be there, just that it wouldn’t really be a factor in my purchase decision. Certain cars like VW’s are outliers because both methods of volume control are shit. And yeah the tesla electric vent thing is bad. The only possible reason they could have done that is asthetics because I don’t see how it could save money.
Do you ever participate in outdoor activities that get you very hot or very cold? 70 is definitely comfortable for most people most of the time, but if you’re overheated from baking in the sun at the beach or chilled to the bone from watching a soccer game in the late fall with 10-degree wind chill, chances are you’ll want that 70 to be more like 60 or 80 respectively, and you may want it pointed at your hot neck and chest or your numb toes. Or for another example, if you happen to be on a long highway drive and are on the side of the car getting direct sunlight, that radiant heat isn’t going to get picked up by the cabin thermometer and you may want it cooler on your side.
In any case, I’m very glad that my vehicles all have physical buttons for both toggling vents and temps.
For those reasons, I’ve never been big on automatic climate control. Sometimes if it’s really hot outside, especially if I’ve been biking or hiking, I want to make the car as cold as humanly possible and keep it that way for the duration of my drive to cool down. The inverse is true in the winter. I’ve never owned a car with auto climate control, but I’ve driven plenty that did over the years. I always find myself fiddling with the temp or fan speed because the “auto” setting isn’t warm/cool enough for my liking on that particular day or drive. I’m always changing the temp or fan speed in my car to suit the conditions and how warm or cold I feel. I do it more than ever now I’m on a medication that has completely fucked my heat tolerance. And it’s not an inconvenience to make those adjustments, just the twist of a dial or two I don’t even have to look at. My Sportwagen has the typical three knob setup, one for temp, one for fan speed, one for blend. For me, anyway, that’s perfect. Though I’ll admit I’m probably not in the majority.
I’ve never liked auto climate control either. In my experience when starting the car on a warm day, it maxes-out the fans to “deafening cyclone level” in order to cool the entire cabin as quickly as possible. Whereas with manual climate control I just do the reasonable thing and direct the vents to cool myself, and the fans can stay at a pleasant medium speed. Eventually the cabin will get cool as well, but without going through the whole climate system freakout.
Of course I am blessed to live in a temperate climate, so I am not using the climate control at all for a good part of the year. But regardless, I still feel like I know how to work the climate system better than the car does.
I for one would be happy if automakers would make it as difficult as possible to use the fog lights. Way too many people drive around with them on just to look “cool”.
Rear fogs are the worst because most American drivers don’t even know they exist
I like the system on my VW, where you turn the foglights on by pulling the headlight knob out from the dash, and when you turn off the headlights, it cams the knob back in, turning off the fogs, so at least they get turned off every time the car is turned off.
I will never understand the war against buttons. I love buttons! Who doesn’t love buttons?
And I’m told over and over it’s to clean up the interior. To what, end up with what looks like my work desktop when I’m too lazy to properly organize shit? I get that like, 10 years ago increasing display sizes and quality was all the rage. But I for one am over it. I spend damn near all day staring at huge screens. If they were novel like they once were, maybe it’d be different. But I see no beauty in it at all.
Buttons, dials, knobs, and switches all cost most. Since we’re to a point where screens are cheap and everything is electronically controlled, it takes more to engineer and install tactile controls, in most cases. There’s also the oft-discussed hyper-tech minimalist aesthetic popularized by Tesla and foisted upon anything even remotely electrified.
Oh I totally understand that this is to the manufacturer’s benefit, and their benefit alone. As the consumer certainly doesn’t win when they get a 3k estimate for a replacement screen down the road.
The war against buttons is simply money. $0 for a non-touch button. $20 and a lot of engineering work for a hard button. If you’re over budget for a car, they probably take the buttons out.
Putting window lockouts behind a menu is a totally inexplicable miss. It’s a family car! Children are the ones who goof off with the window buttons the most!
Also if you design them right buttons can look really good.
Also it’ll inevitably get left in lockout mode and then when you need to unlock it you’re scrambling to figure out where the heck the button is. It won’t be where your first guess is (the physical controls) and you’re not going to remember what the menu is called to turn it off.
Still doesn’t make the lifted full size car wagon thing worth $60,000+…
I think the only bad GM infotainment systems were the CUE ones, everything else has been really intuitive to use.