Dashboards: Into the future with the simplicity of the past?

You know what’s great? Apple CarPlay, that’s what. Its Android format is probably not too shabby either but I don’t have any direct experience. Android Auto may actually be better as it has Waze and a bunch other apps not available on Apple CarPlay.
The bottom line is that both systems integrate really well into modern cars’ infotainment systems and their touchscreens. Unlike most systems developed by car companies, these two actually understand voice commands. Furthermore, they are always connected the magical thing called “the internet” and thus are only rarely out of date.
But if so many things that we need are on our phones, our modern essential portable communication devices, neatly displayed on bigger screens, and with an voice interface that seems to work pretty well, how will future dash boards look like? There won’t be a need for all the buttons and knobs we typically associate with dash radios. Will future cars just have a big screen like Teslas do now?
What does that do to our gauges? Those can be shown on a windshield via a head-up display. What will happen then? Will all future dashboards look like a cross between a Tesla Model 3 and the first generation Toyota Prius?


Wireless connections and wireless charging of our devices will further reduce the dashboard clutter. How long until 12v sockets, formerly known as cigarette lighters, disappear? 
Transmission shifters are disappearing, too. With minor exceptions, the manual handbrake has been dead for years. Once manual transmission are completely gone, which is any day now, this will free up a ton of console space, too.
Don’t even get me started on honest keyed ignition switches. 
Perhaps there is a silver lining here. Perhaps this minimization and simplification of dashboards can allow enough space to bring back the three-passenger front bench? Seeing that most engines are transversely mounted now, there is no need for a transmission tunnel, resulting in a lot of space for the middle front passenger. Or will the buying public scream for more cup-holders and bigger console storage for their stuff? Perhaps something I always wanted in my car, a coffee maker?
Even all-wheel-drive cars don’t need a transmission tunnel. The new Toyota Rav4 AWD Hybrid does not have a driveshaft. The rear wheels are power strictly by the small rear-mounted electric motor.

I don’t have the answer to those questions, which is why I am asking them. I am anxiously waiting to see what the automotive future holds for us. I don’t think that driving and automotive passion will dissolve, just as rail passion from centuries ago has not nor airplane passion from decades ago, but perhaps it will reduce just like those two.
Part of me believes that we have reach dashboard design pinnacle in the early 1990s but that just shows my age. There sure as heck were a lot of amazing interior designs in the 1950s and 1960s. And perhaps that is where we are heading? Into the future with the simplicity of the past?