Porsche is one of the best in the business when it comes to driving satisfaction. Part of the reason why people love spending time in these cars isn’t just thanks to the excellent handling and world-beating feedback you get from the chassis. Porsche also nails stuff like ergonomics and usability in a way no other manufacturer can.
That’s why expectations were high for Porsche’s infotainment system, called Porsche Communication Management, or PCM. Updated late last year, it brings big screens with crisp graphics and tons of useful functionality. In short, it lives up to the Porsche nameplate, providing a seamless in-car technological experience.
| Quick Specs | 2025 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe |
| Touchscreen / Instrument Cluster | 12.3 inches / 12.6 inches |
| Apple CarPlay | Wireless |
| Voice Control | Yes |
Porsche’s user interface uses an industry-standard setup, with a centrally mounted, 12.3-inch landscape-style screen for infotainment and a 12.6-inch screen mounted in front of the steering wheel to act as a digital gauge cluster. Beneath the screen you’ll find some vents, a wireless charging pad, a cluster of touch-capacitive buttons for the climate control, and a physical volume knob.
This configuration makes it easy for anyone to hop in and enjoy the car right away. There’s no big learning curve or confusing menus to click through. Porsche keeps everything simple on the main display, showing an app-style selection for things like navigation, media, phone, settings, and climate controls. There’s a menu bar permanently affixed to the left side of the screen, allowing the driver to quickly bounce between maps, music, and chassis settings.
The native navigation and music controls were intuitive to use, but like most new cars I drive, I found myself defaulting to Apple CarPlay with Porsche’s system. Once connected to my phone, it automatically activates each time I enter the car without fuss. The 12.3-inch screen is bright and beautiful, reacting quickly and seamlessly to inputs. Paired with the wireless charging pad—which doesn’t cook my phone like most other pads on the market—it makes for a lovely experience.
Pros: Quick To Respond, Easy To Navigate, Customizable
Porsche is smart enough to include real buttons for the HVAC controls, though unfortunately, more than half of them are touch-capacitive, meaning they’re a bit awkward to use, especially while you’re driving. Even worse, they’re built into a piano black panel to blend with the rest of the piano black center stack. It looks cool in pictures, but in practice, you’ll be staring at dust, scratches, and fingerprints all day. The real volume knob is huge, though. And my girlfriend appreciated its centralized location, so she wouldn’t have to reach far from the passenger seat to use it.
The digital gauge cluster takes the shape of a traditional cluster and sticks to Porsche’s five-gauge pod theme. But it can be customized to show three or two virtual “pods” that show different information, depending on your preference. There are lots of useful tools available here, from navigation projection to adaptive cruise control status.
A dial mounted to the steering wheel controls drive modes, which appear on the right side of the cluster. There’s also a button in the center of the knob to activate a push-to-pass function that adds a bit of power and torque for 20 seconds. It’s a bit gimmicky, sure, but sometimes it’s fun to pretend I’m an IndyCar driver on I-95.
Changing up the drive mode is also possible on the main display. It’s here where you can independently alter the car’s setup, changing damper stiffness, exhaust volume, and suspension height, if your car is equipped with air ride. Sadly this is also where the start/stop deactivation is located; there’s no physical button, and it turns back on every time you power-cycle the car, even if you deactivated start/stop previously. If you're so inclined, Porsche tells us you can program the "joker" button—the diamond-labeled button on the steering wheel—to act as a start/stop deactivator, which is nice.
Cons: Not As pretty As Porsche's Old-Fashioned Dials, Touch-Capacitive Buttons Are Bad
In addition to the two standard screens, there are up to two optional displays available on some Porsche models. The first is a head-up display that projects onto the windshield, showing stuff like speed, rpm, drive mode, and navigation directions.
The second is a 10.9-inch passenger-side display that replaces the dash panel above the glove box, allowing the front passenger to control things like navigation, media, and other features. On the Cayenne, it’s a $1,540 extra. Personally, I’d save the cash. But if you often ride with someone who gets bored easily, it could be a simple way to deliver some entertainment.
Overall, there’s not much to complain about in Porsche’s infotainment setup. It’s a clean, well-executed system that’s well thought-out and easy to use, even if you’ve never been in a Porsche before. All of the native applications function appropriately, and if you want to take the easy route and use CarPlay, it’s readily accessible. I’m sad the center-mounted analog tachometer is gone, but what you get in its place is worth the tradeoff.
Gallery: Porsche Infotainment Review
