The Apple Car is one of those products that Apple has never confirmed and which nevertheless shows that it was in the company’s plans. Actually, They worked and invested huge amounts of money to have a completely autonomous electric car which, like the iPhone in its time was intended for telephony, intended to revolutionize the automobile industry.
However, the Apple Car will never exist again. Not in Apple’s plans, and even less in the world behind the walls of Apple Park. Earlier this year, sources close to the company confirmed the project’s cancellation after a frustrating development process. Now we have further proof of this failure and that, when in doubt, Apple banned it completely.
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Every project starts with an idea, but at a company like Apple, it doesn’t take long to materialize into something tangible. Don’t launch immediately, but at least work on a base. To do this, you need to loosen your wallet and, if you believe in the project, dedicate a continuous investment to it that is not really minimal. Thus, it is well known that Apple invested nearly $10 billion
The project was obviously titanic. And in every way. Apple’s initial idea was ambitious, even if it was scaled back. A completely autonomous and electric car was ideal at the start of the project, although little by little they had to reduce their optimism. This table shows all levels used for this type of vehicle.
FEATURES |
EXAMPLES |
|
---|---|---|
LEVEL 0 |
Notice and momentary assistance. |
Warnings regarding braking, blind spots or lane change recommendations. |
LEVEL 1 |
Braking/acceleration assistance. |
Lane centering and adaptive cruise control. |
LEVEL 2 |
Steering and braking/acceleration assistance. |
Simultaneous lane centering and adaptive cruise control. |
LEVEL 3 |
Autonomous driving in limited circumstances. |
Autonomous driving mode in traffic jams. |
LEVEL 4 |
Autonomous driving in more limited circumstances. |
Local taxi without driver (may not have pedals or steering wheel). |
LEVEL 5 |
Autonomous driving in all circumstances. |
Fully autonomous driving in all situations. |
Apple did not aspire to a level 5 or not at least initially, but to a level 4 which would allow them to no longer use a driver on many routes. In order not to extend the deadlines and in view of increasingly slow development, the company lowered its expectations and just a few weeks before its cancellation it was disclosed that it would focus on an advanced level 2. That is to say, an electric car with certain autonomous functions, but which would still require a driver at the controls.
In parallel, Apple developed technologies that were intended to be avant-gardejust like the advanced chip that the vehicle would mount and which will never see the light of day. Recently, Bloomberg also detailed a juicy collaboration between Apple and the main Chinese manufacturer BYD, with which they were developing batteries that would revolutionize the sector, giving the Apple Car a range never before seen in any electric vehicle.
It’s all been wasted and there’s definitive proof
Sources close to Apple say that the annual investment that the company devotes to the development of Project Titan will now be allocated to artificial intelligence, also transferring many engineers to this department, but not without having to lay off dozens of workers whose dedication was one hundred percent focused on driving.
However, perhaps someone at this point had the slightest doubt about this news and thought that Apple’s internal forums are still talking about launching a car in the future. In a way, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that you’re canceling a project to reduce pressure and save time. However, this does not seem to be the case.
The best and definitive proof of the cancellation of the Apple Car is that the company canceled its autonomous driving license. And precisely one of the signs that Apple was working on systems of this type was to see how autonomous vehicles owned by the company were circulating in certain areas of California and which, like any business, require a permit.
The fact that Apple cancels the road permit for autonomous vehicles is the best sign that they are completely abandoning this area
This permit was still valid until April 30, 2025, but far from waiting for its expiration and not renewing it, macReports detailed this week that this permit was directly canceled. They even specify that it was on September 25 that the company led by Tim Cook made the request for cancellation, and that it was only two days later that the competent authority formally canceled it.
So no, we will never see an Apple Car, at least with Tim Cook at the helm, who, along with a good part of the shareholders, was already very tired of not seeing serious progress in the project and tired of the lengthening of time limit. every time again. For now, it looks like some of these efforts could be ported over to systems like CarPlay and, who knows, they might even license some of these advancements to other companies. But no, there will be no Apple Car. In fact, there never was.
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