2025 Aston Martin DBX707 review: The Apple CarPlay Ultra experience

The 2025 Aston Martin DBX707 isn’t new or wildly different, but Aston has taken the lead with an intriguing technology addition.

Mechanically, the 2025 Aston Martin DBX707 remains unchanged from when the model was introduced.

Aston Martin’s play in the high-end and exclusive luxury car market has long been based on the combination of craftsmanship and performance, and not really as a technology powerhouse.

In recent years, the brand has tried to address that, adopting Mercedes-Benz-based infotainment systems, digital instrument displays, and a greater range of integrated technologies. Despite this, older-generation hand-me-down technology systems from Mercedes has left Astons looking a bit dated.

The DBX SUV aims to address that, being one of the pioneering vehicles to feature the new Apple-developed CarPlay Ultra technology.

While CarPlay is nothing new for infotainment, the new CarPlay Ultra format adds vehicle instrumentation and allows users to access vehicle controls from within CarPlay, without the need to exit out to change climate settings, adjust safety systems, or make changes to other vehicle settings.

It’s a system that’s all Apple, and not developed by Aston, so we spent some time behind the wheel to see if this new tech addition is a game-changer for Aston Martin and the motoring world in general.

Pricing for the Aston Martin DBX starts from $462,500 before on-road costs, but of course, you don't really buy a ‘standard’ DBX.

With a massive range of paint finishes, interior colour and trim options, optional wheels, and other customisations to choose from, the final price can be very different.

Some things are an integral part of the DBX experience, like the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, based on an AMG design, but tailored to suit Aston’s specifications.

With 520kW and 900Nm, it’s a formidable powerhouse. The nine-speed multi-clutch automatic is also standard. It’s another Mercedes-Benz-sourced assembly.

The basic specification is hardly basic at all, with a 23-speaker stereo, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen, adaptive air suspension, four-zone climate control, leather-trimmed heated sports seats, and lots more.

Incredibly, the DBX707 isn’t even the top of the heap, with Aston Martin having recently added a more powerful 535kW DBX S joining the range for $475,000.

The swoopy shape of the DBX manages to confuse the eye. This is a car that looks both imposing but also compact, and makes it hard to pick how big it really is.

At 5039mm long and 1998mm wide, the DBX takes up plenty of room on the road, while it is 1680mm tall and rides on a 3060mm wheelbase.

To give that some perspective, alongside something more commonplace, like a BMW X5, the DBX is 104mm longer, 6mm narrower, 85mm lower, with an 85mm longer wheelbase.

Cabin space is an interesting mix. The front seats are roomy, and positioned such that you drop down into them, but the rear seats are much higher and require a step up.

Head room is good, but rear knee room can be limited. The centre seat is comfortable to sit in, but the transmission tunnel needs to be straddled.

The rear seats have a comfortable, natural position to them, but can’t be reclined or adjusted, which feels like a miss on such a capable tourer.

Finishes are exquisite, with the test car shown here fitted with a tan leather interior, and leather in places you might not expect, like the roof lining, cargo blind, passenger assist grips, and sun visors.

Those sun visors are fabulously fussy too. The outer visor folds down, but can't be swung across. Instead, a secondary visor hidden underneath has the hinge to swing around, all with stunningly over-engineered solid metal hinges and clasps.

Ergonomics for the driver puts controls at easy reach, with the gear selector, temperature, and volume dials all easy to access. At the same time, the boot release tucked in under the floating centre console, and window switches placed under the driver’s elbow, all feel like they’re in the wrong spot.

Still, compared to Aston’s last four-door, the Rapide – which treated rear passengers like an awkward afterthought – the DBX does a much better job of space and comfort.

As part of an update in 2024, the dash and console got a slight redesign to make them more modern and easy to use.

Push-button gear selection was replaced by a Porsche-style toggle, the layout of climate controls was simplified, the awkward MBUX touchpad was shown the door, and the start button moved from atop the dash to a part of the drive mode dial.

The changes feel more modern, more intuitive, and look much more premium.

Aston Martin also took the opportunity to fit a new steering wheel with a much smaller hub, and a pared-back selection of buttons and scroll wheels, again making it easy to use.

The underlying design and layout owes its design to Mercedes-Benz, but somehow Aston has done a better job than Benz, with fewer touchpad surfaces, and more physical buttons.

The 632 litres of available boot space is a generous measure. Just a little under the 650L you’d find in something like a BMW X5.

The boot has a leather-trimmed solid cargo cover, buttons to fold the seats and lower the rear suspension, and carpet that’s plusher than you’ll find in most new homes.

Under the boot floor, you’ll find a collapsible spare tyre and compressor to inflate it, but no hidden storage or extra wow-factor.

The latest overhaul to the DBX comes in the form of its infotainment. The previous-generation Mercedes-Benz infotainment screen has been booted and replaced with a fresher touchscreen.

Previously, controls had to be navigated by a touchpad on the console, not a touchscreen. A system that felt oddly archaic for the money you were spending.

The update was a smart one, as fellow British brand, Lotus, not only moves into the hyper-SUV space, but has done so with the technological might of its Chinese owners, Geely, bringing a sharply modern infotainment experience.

Aston’s system feels balanced. The 10.25-inch screen isn’t huge, but it looks and feels like it belongs in the car, balanced by physical controls for suspension and exhaust modes, physical dials for temperature, fan speed, and volume, and with a row of climate controls that you can operate without needing to shift your eyes from the road.

The system includes Bluetooth, integrated satellite navigation, AM/FM/DAB radio, and provides access to car settings like telemetry, vehicle safety, and user settings.

The 12.3-inch instrument cluster offers a classic look, a little minimalist in its layout, with a choice of dual dials or central tacho display and a trip computer on either side.

The 360km/h top speed indicated on the speedo does feel a little optimistic, though, with the car limited to a 310km/h V-max.

Aston’s new infotainment platform also offers wireless access to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay – as well as the new CarPlay Ultra.

Unlike regular CarPlay, which required you to leave the phone projection system and jump back to the Aston Martin menus to change car functions like climate control or make drive mode adjustments, CarPlay Ultra adds functions like climate, settings, and radio into the CarPlay menu.

It also takes over the instrument cluster and provides an array of very identifiable Apple graphics packages.

Some look a lot like what you’d expect to find in an Aston Martin, with traditional gauges with notched dials and supporting marker numbers, but some are minimalist and modern in ways that feel almost alien in such a handcrafted interior.

Apple’s ambition here is admirable, with the ability to stay within the CarPlay ecosystem to make vehicle changes or ask Siri to make adjustments for you.

It’s also somewhat limiting. In developer conferences, Apple has discussed that the displays and typeface options are set by Apple, with some scope for brands to make adjustments to fonts and kerning, but ultimately, everything feels iPhone-esque and not always authentically Aston.

The Apple interface also lacks some features. The telemetry display in the native infotainment disappears, and some of the settings and adjustments for the alarm and lighting disappear in the Apple menus. 

While you can adjust temp or fan speed from inside CarPlay, you can't return to the auto setting. You can ask Siri to set a temperature, but you can’t ask for the ‘warm feet’ or ‘cold cabin’ shortcut settings that Aston provides without using the touchscreen.

In this application, CarPlay Ultra also lacks controls for seat heating and cooling, so those functions still rely on the interior buttons.

Unlike regular CarPlay, which has a dedicated button to return back to the in-car menu, CarPlay Ultra has no exit option. Once in, you’re staying put. This proved frustrating as CarPlay treated driver assist systems as locked out when I tried to make changes.

The DBX also has some functions that Apple hasn’t built a user interface for, like ambient lighting and Bowers & Wilkins audio controls. In these situations, the native menu screen pops up and returns you to CarPlay when you’ve made your changes.

Overall, the integration is slick, but there are too many gaps in the functionality. No doubt Apple will address these over time, but right now the initial wow-factor is quickly replaced by frustration at the lack of complete integration.

The biggest issue, though, was how flaky the connection was. CarPlay worked three days out of the seven I had the car.

No matter what I tried to reconnect it, including deleting and re-adding my phone, once the car decided it was done with CarPlay, there was no getting it back until it magically reconnected of its own accord.

Not an experience befitting a circa-$500K luxury car.

The Aston Martin DBX doesn’t have a crash safety rating and lacks test results from either ANCAP or its overseas equivalent, Euro NCAP. 

The DBX’s high price and low sales volumes mean it’s unlikely to ever be tested, and to date, no Aston Martin model carries a safety rating.

The Aston Martin DBX comes with a reasonable list of safety features. As a driver-first brand, the control stays largely with the driver for crucial operations, but it does come with adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, speed sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection.

Rather than wrestling control from the driver, the assist features in the DBX do just that – they assist. There’s no sense that the car is taking control or overruling what the driver tries to do.

In some ways, this feels like a sensible solution for a vehicle aimed at a market more likely to be driving enthusiasts. It’s happy to run with adaptive cruise control set and nudge you back into your lane if you get distracted, but it leaves you in control for the most part.

With a ridiculously powerful V8 under the bonnet, and 2.2 tonnes to move around, the DBX isn't going to set any efficiency records.

Despite this, given the performance and weight, official fuel consumption is rated at a decent 13.5 litres per 100 kilometres, and while it rises deep into the 20s in urban-only driving, as a tourer with some country drives mixed in, I used 16.4L/100km.

The DBX takes 95-octane premium unleaded as a minimum, and with an 85-litre fuel tank it has a driving range of just under 520km based on the consumption recorded on test.

Not too long ago, the idea of a 520kW twin-turbo V8 would have made something like the DBX a terrifying experience for only the bravest drivers.

Skip to the modern era, with linear torque curves, controlled boost, and a handful of electronic safety nets, and the DBX feels as easy to drive as something much more sedate.

The major difference is, of course, that when the opportunity arises to unleash the available power, the DBX707 delivers fierce acceleration and tenacious handling.

Unlike dedicated sports cars that can transform something as boring as a trip to the shops into a thrilling drive, the softer, gentler underlying nature of the DBX doesn't deliver non-stop thrills, but in a big roomy SUV, it makes sense to dial things back a little.

The default GT drive mode is predictable, with a gentle accelerator map, and smooth, unhurried gear shifts. Cycle up through Sport and Sport+ modes and you get more steering weight, a more eager engine response, snappier gear shifts, and firmer suspension.

Despite being the most hardcore setting, Sport+ manages to somehow still be forgiving enough to deal with on public roads. Each ride setting is firm, and the car can still thump over tarmac joins and big bumps, but it’s not brittle.

Aston has wisely positioned the DBX707 as a grand tourer, and while it might be capable of track duty, it’s been set up to thrive on regular roads.

The steering carries plenty of heft, and while it is accurate, it can feel slow to respond and a little lacking in feedback.

The handling balance favours power oversteer if you drive like new money. Take a more settled approach, and the big Aston becomes more neutral, relying on balance through corners to carry speed, rather than simply powering out of them.

And the engine is just phenomenal. Deep reserves of power serve up massive forward thrust, either from a standstill or during rolling acceleration.

The 900Nm available means you can use the mid-range for locomotive-like thrust, or if you’d rather push revs higher, the engine will happily spin up and serve the full 520kW.

The nine-speed automatic is free from jerky shifts and low-speed tantrums. Aston Martin uses a variant of AMG’s nine-speed automatic with a multi-plate wet clutch pack.

It’s quick to cycle through gears, but often feels like a torque converter when driving gently. Around town, there’s no juddering at low speeds or shift shock on part throttle. 

There are steering wheel paddles if you want to choose your own adventure, and at times the transmission can be slow to respond by itself, but the snappier response of the paddles feels like a great fit for engaging roads.

If you would like to tow with your DBX, you can. Aston’s SUV carries a conservative 2700kg braked tow rating. That’s more than enough head room to tow your classic Aston Martin DB4 to events, if you have one.

Payload is generous, at 715kg, with many seven-seaters unable to carry as much weight. In this case, it provides the ability to combine your passenger weight and towbar ball weight without becoming overloaded. 

The Aston Martin DBX beautifully combines the traditional power and comfort of a grand-touring coupe with the more sensible space and comfort of a luxury SUV.

As you’d expect, attention to detail in the interior is meticulous. The fittings and finishes all look, feel, and smell high-quality, and the ability to customise the interior and exterior to your liking is the big difference between a ‘prestige’ SUV, and a luxury one.

Many of the unusual quirks and foibles that marked the supercar experience have been annihilated, and despite being low-volume and exclusive, the DBX still feels approachable and familiar.

It’s great to see Aston Martin on board with new-tech developments, like Apple CarPlay Ultra, and I can see a lot of potential in a system like this as it evolves over time. Right now, though, it still has a few gaps (and a couple of identity issues) that keep it from being truly praiseworthy.

Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.

Read more about Kez Casey