The Apple Car appears to be hidden from view. Week after week, Apple publishes patents for this future car. Patents that give us clues about how the project can take shape and at the same time, they introduce noise and distortion, because a lot of them will not be formalized. Today we’re going to talk about some patents and what approach Apple seems to be taking for the Apple Car.
A revolutionary device in the small details
No one doubts that Apple devices are, in many circumstances, far superior to what other manufacturers can offer. These devices too stand out with a key value: the ecosystem. Looking at the patents we see on the Apple car, it looks like this vehicle will go a bit in that line. A car that without reinventing the wheel, never better said, will have its strong point in integration with the rest of the devices in the ecosystem.
Today’s first patent is one in which Apple explores how the future Apple Car can help us locate our iPhone inside in case we can’t find it. Whether inside the glove box or under the seat, the system that Apple offers is to use several receivers distributed by the vehicle, we understand that U1 chips, to triangulate the exact location and show us or tell us, via Siri, the location of our phone.
The second patent is related to the ability to display information on the driver’s windshield. This information would be displayed in augmented reality and, among other things, it would show us the speed of the vehicle as well as the directions of the route that we will configure via our iPhone or directly in the car. This information would be incorporated into what we can currently get, and more since its redesign, in the Maps app on our iPhone or iPad. The system would be enriched with points of interest, favorite places and other data and would also enrich the maps with information that the fleet could collect.
At first glance, we can say that these two patents, no matter how much the patent office granted them as new inventions, they already exist today. Cars with speedometers on the windshield, there are several, so it is only a matter of time before CarPlay devices with a U1 chip are launched or this technology is incorporated into cars. existing vehicles, as BMW and CarKey already do.
The truth is, we don’t know what Apple has planned for the Apple Car, but what we do see and infer is that ecosystem integration will be a key point of this future car. Yes, it is possible that Apple will revolutionize autonomous driving technology much more than what Tesla realizes, but it is also possible that the Apple Car will be designed as the benchmark car for those of us who are already users. from Apple. Many, many details remain to be known, almost all, including the price, but what seems clear is that all of the lessons and technologies that Apple has developed for the iPhone, iPad or Mac require access. to the Apple Car in a way. A car which, according to the patents they suggest, will be a silent revolution in the automotive world.
