Just yesterday, Proton previewed the Proton X90 – a brand-new model that was first spotted in Malaysia back in May 2021.

The brand new 6-/7-seater SUV features a hosts of firsts for the Malaysian Tiger, including a petrol-electric mild-hybrid (MHEV) system, as well as an enhanced ADAS suite. The latter now features Traffic Sign Information, a feature that works in conjunction with Adaptive Cruise Control to limit the vehicle’s speed according to the speed limit signs.

In fact, there’s also a new 12.3-inch infotainment display – the largest one fitted to a Proton model to-date.

Despite adding a host of new features to its arsenal, the Proton X90 still lacks support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – modern-day features that much cheaper rivals offer.

Also Read: With 70k users saying “Hi Proton”, meet the Malaysian team behind Proton’s GKUI system

During the Q&A session held during the media preview of the Proton X90, when asked about the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in the new SUV, ACO Tech’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) said, “The R&D team needs to get the balance from the user data of the driver or consumer with CarPlay.”

For the uninitiated, ACO Tech is the local developer team and supplier of Proton's Atlas OS.

Also Read: Why isn’t Proton accepting Apple CarPlay/Android Auto yet? The simple answer is user data

This answer is similar to a statement released by ACO Tech a couple of years ago, boiling down to user data. With more than 100,000 Protons running Atlas OS and GKUI, there’s a lot of user data on hand, and Proton and ACO Tech does not want companies like Google or Apple obtaining its user data, at least for the time being.

Vice President of Sale and Marketing at Proton, Roslan Abdullah shed a bit more light on the situation, saying “Basically we need to redevelop everything, maybe the car that you see today will be without IHU so this is something.”

“What I'm trying to say is the waiting time is a bit longer, but I think the ACO Tech team understands what is the market requirements for the CarPlay and Android Auto, and they're still working on it.”

That’s certainly a sign in the right direction. While we don’t have a timeline to as when Proton will deploy Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, at least we now know that development work is progressing in the background.

Also Read: Proton X90 confirmed - 1.5T MHEV, 6/7 seats, full ADAS, 190 PS, 300 Nm, no AA/CP

Seeing that the Proton X90's starting price will likely be above the Proton X70, with RM 130k being a possible starting point, it is rather disappointing for a car at this price range to come without basic features like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.