Every year, Tesla drops a massive Holiday Update packed with features, improvements, and fun extras—and 2025 won’t disappoint. Owners mark their calendars for this one.
If you haven’t followed Tesla’s Holiday releases before, check out the past updates or last year’s 2024 Holiday Update. Some features feel like safe bets, but the real joy is in speculating about what Tesla might sneak in next—and collecting ideas from drivers along the way.
We’ve already created a wish list for the Tesla app, and today we’re going to look into some of the most requested features for Tesla’s infotainment system.
CarPlay
CarPlay is at the top of this list. While some people dislike the idea of using CarPlay, it’s at the top of the wish list for many users. After the recent leak, if we don’t receive CarPlay, or at least AirPlay support in this upcoming holiday update, it’ll surely be a huge disappointment for many.
CarPlay lets users use their favorite map apps like Waze or Apple Maps, and it also allows them to use apps that Tesla is unlikely to implement, such as podcast apps like Overcast or music apps for less popular music services.
While CarPlay integration won’t be perfect due to a redundant experience and the inability to use some Tesla features, such as FSD, without using Tesla’s navigation system, it’ll provide many users with better app support.
Grok Improvements
The current voice command system is functional, but rigid. Grok’s integration is currently focused on providing answers, entertainment, and the occasional language tutoring in the U.S. and Canada. Rolling these two features together is almost a natural next step.
Rather than stopping to try to figure out where the nearest restaurant with good food is, simply asking Grok to find one along your route and redirect you is a far simpler approach.
With the holiday update, we’d love to see Grok improvements, including voice command integration, a wake word, and expansion into more countries. While these may not all come at once, it’d be nice to receive at least one of them in this year’s holiday update.
Group Text Support
It is 2025, and Tesla’s messaging interface still struggles with group chats. If you receive a group chat message and then reply through the Tesla interface, you’ll end up sending a direct message to that person, rather than to the group chat.
Proper support for RCS messaging and group chats should be achievable, and it’s one of the most requested items.
Spotify Hi-Fi / Apple Hi-Fi
Spotify recently launched its Hi-Fi service worldwide, but the only Hi-Fi option available in your Tesla today is through TIDAL. Having access to other Hi-Fi audio services, including Spotify and Apple, would make a big difference in audio quality, especially on Tesla’s industry-leading audio systems.
Dolby Atmos Support
Many vehicles now come with proper Dolby Surround/Atmos support for both audio and video, but Tesla remains one of the standouts without proper implementation of spatial audio. A software codec update to decode Dolby Atmos tracks from Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL would be a big plus.
X App
With Grok already directly integrated into Tesla vehicles, getting proper integration for X is also a feature many would like to see. While X is accessible in the web browser, the interface is not designed for touchscreen use, and can be a challenge to type on as well. A native, optimized X feed for the main screen with video support would be a natural addition.
Notifications
While Tesla supports text messaging, people now use a variety of apps to message and chat with friends and colleagues. We’d love to see Tesla add the ability to show notifications from your mobile phone beyond just text messages.
Users would be able to see alerts from apps like WhatsApp, X, and others that they configure.
Improved Visualizations
Ever since Tesla update 2025.38, Tesla software has included many new model visualizations from skateboarders and trailers to strollers and golf carts — 15 new visualizations in all.
While Tesla quietly enabled some of these visualizations for some users, likely for testers, they haven’t been abled across the fleet yet. It’s possible that this could happen with the holiday update. It’ll hopefully not only be included for those with FSD, but with normal Autopilot as well.
Tesla is using a new engine for visualizations in the new Model S and Model X. While visually the models look identical, it should allow them more flexibility to create better animations in the future.
Parked Visualization for Intel
While Tesla enabled a beautiful full-screen visualization for AMD vehicles with last year’s Spring Update, many users would love this to apply to older Intel vehicles as well.
While these visualizations rely on shadows and reflects, Tesla could add a simplier visualization for Intel vehicles that showcase the car nice and big while parked.
Productivity Apps
The Mobile Office concept needs a boost. Tesla already offers a native Zoom app for AMD vehicles, but support for Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Slack, and Discord would be a great addition. While you can navigate to any of those apps in the web browser today, you can’t use your in-cabin microphone to join a call (but you can listen in).
Steam Gaming
The removal of Steam support from Model S and X vehicles was a big disappointment, and Tesla Arcade updates are few and far.
With such a big screen sitting idle, it simply makes sense for Steam (or Steam Link, using your hardware at home for streaming) to be built into every Tesla vehicle at this point. There have been some hints that Tesla was looking into this again, so we’re still hopeful.
Custom Entry Sounds
We’ve got custom lock sounds, fancy new entry animations (on the refreshed Model S, X, and Y Performance), but we don’t have the ability to set a custom entry sound quite yet.
That’ll be a fun little feature with a relatively low impact.
Custom Wrap and License Plate Visualization
The Cybertruck already supports custom wraps that allow you to create any image and use it a wrap on your vehicle. However, it’s currently limited to the Cybertruck even though Tesla has already said other models will receive the feature too.
The Cybertruck also supports license plate visualizations, allowing you to put your actual license plate in the vehicle’s visualization or create a custom one.
Both of these features bring more personalization to the vehicles and are expected to arrive in the future and it’s time may be just a few weeks away.
AirPlay, Google Cast Support
The rear screen in the vehicle lets rear passengers watch video while the vehicle is driving, making road trips more enjoyable. However, you can only easily play something from the list of video providers that Tesla supports. We’d love for Tesla to add AirPlay and Cast support for the front and rear screens, letting users play video from almost any source, quickly and easily.
Other Wish Lists
Be sure to check our our other holiday wishlists, including some features that we expect will be included in this holiday’s update.
