[nh4]

Looks like it is Windows Embedded (aka CE as uid0 mentioned). Doing some digging I came up with the following from http://www.techautos.com/2010/03/19...0-hp-v8-1-6-ghz-intel-atom-microsoft-powered/ ::

"McLaren’s IRIS infotainment system, which is based on Microsoft software, presumably running on Windows Embedded. McLaren’s choice of Atom is interesting because in-car entertainment systems generally don’t require as much performance as an x86 Atom chip can deliver (Ford’s Microsoft-powered SYNC has a 400 MHz ARM11 processor, for example– see here for info on embedded processors), so IRIS must be something pretty fancy."

This makes me wonder if the actual brain running IRIS is potentially this component from the 'McLaren Electronic Systems' side of the house, http://www.mclarenelectronics.com/Products/Product/EPL-310. If they've got the tech floating around in their electronics side of the business it likely makes sense to re-use / re-purpose it in the road cars.

I'm not sure any of this helps in terms of getting iOS in place of IRIS, but I thought it was interesting and worth a share!

 

[nh4]

RealVNC makes a version of VNC particularly for porting mobile device UIs to a car's headunit. Looks like it is certified for both iOS and Windows CE / Embedded. So, if McLaren wanted to add in this kind of support it looks like it is not only doable, but it they could piggyback on a solution that's been out in the market for a while.

http://www.realvnc.com/services/automotive.html