Apple ramps up work on fully autonomous 'Apple Car,' targets 2025 release
Apple is preparing to accelerate development of its electric self-driving "Apple Car" with a new focus on a vehicle that's fully autonomous and a potential launch date in 2025.
Credit: AppleInsider
Reportedly, Apple has explored two potential options for its self-driving car: a model with limited autonomous abilities like current production vehicles or a version that can fully drive itself without human intervention. According to Bloomberg, the company has settled on the latter.
Under new Project Titan leader Kevin Lynch, who spearheaded Apple Watch software development, Apple is pushing for a vehicle with full self-driving capabilities in the first version, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The change in direction is only the latest shift for Apple's Special Project Group, which has seen a number of staff restructurings and strategy changes since it kicked off in 2014.
Internally, Apple is targeting the launch of its self-driving car in 2025. However, that timeline is fluid, and the company could always opt to release a vehicle without full autonomous capabilities by then.
The "Apple Car" itself may lack a steering wheel and pedals and feature an interior designed for hands-off travel -- which could look like a limousine with passengers facing each other. Apple has also explored the possibility of the car's infotainment system being placed in the middle of the vehicle. The car will undoubtedly integrate with Apple's existing services.
While the vehicle may lack a steering wheel, Apple engineers and executives have discussed the possibility of an emergency takeover mode.
Apple's Project Titan has reportedly met a key milestone in the development of the "Apple Car," said Bloomberg's sources. The Cupertino tech giant believes it has completed much of the work needed on the self-driving chip required for the vehicle's first generation. As a result, those advancements could soon make their way to road tests.
The "Apple Car" chip is said to be the most advanced component that Apple has developed and is primarily made up of neural processors that handle the machine learning and artificial intelligence required for self-driving cars. Its sophistication will mean that thermals will be a concern, and it'll likely demand a special cooling system.
Apple is also working to build robust safety mechanisms and mitigation features into the "Apple Car" that extend far beyond that rivals like Waymo and Tesla offer.
The goal is to create a vehicle that "can spare customers from driving fatigue when they're on long road trips," but 2025 is an aggressive timeline for the company, even with the recent milestones.
Apple's ultimate goal is currently a holy grail for the automobile industry. Current automakers like Tesla have spent years researching and developing autonomous vehicles. However, no automaker has met that goal yet.
Read on AppleInsider
Credit: AppleInsider
Reportedly, Apple has explored two potential options for its self-driving car: a model with limited autonomous abilities like current production vehicles or a version that can fully drive itself without human intervention. According to Bloomberg, the company has settled on the latter.
Under new Project Titan leader Kevin Lynch, who spearheaded Apple Watch software development, Apple is pushing for a vehicle with full self-driving capabilities in the first version, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The change in direction is only the latest shift for Apple's Special Project Group, which has seen a number of staff restructurings and strategy changes since it kicked off in 2014.
Internally, Apple is targeting the launch of its self-driving car in 2025. However, that timeline is fluid, and the company could always opt to release a vehicle without full autonomous capabilities by then.
The "Apple Car" itself may lack a steering wheel and pedals and feature an interior designed for hands-off travel -- which could look like a limousine with passengers facing each other. Apple has also explored the possibility of the car's infotainment system being placed in the middle of the vehicle. The car will undoubtedly integrate with Apple's existing services.
While the vehicle may lack a steering wheel, Apple engineers and executives have discussed the possibility of an emergency takeover mode.
Apple's Project Titan has reportedly met a key milestone in the development of the "Apple Car," said Bloomberg's sources. The Cupertino tech giant believes it has completed much of the work needed on the self-driving chip required for the vehicle's first generation. As a result, those advancements could soon make their way to road tests.
The "Apple Car" chip is said to be the most advanced component that Apple has developed and is primarily made up of neural processors that handle the machine learning and artificial intelligence required for self-driving cars. Its sophistication will mean that thermals will be a concern, and it'll likely demand a special cooling system.
Apple is also working to build robust safety mechanisms and mitigation features into the "Apple Car" that extend far beyond that rivals like Waymo and Tesla offer.
The goal is to create a vehicle that "can spare customers from driving fatigue when they're on long road trips," but 2025 is an aggressive timeline for the company, even with the recent milestones.
Apple's ultimate goal is currently a holy grail for the automobile industry. Current automakers like Tesla have spent years researching and developing autonomous vehicles. However, no automaker has met that goal yet.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
And a car without a steering wheel? No. Even though it could prove to be very useful long term, I can’t see a large market for that in the next decade. The psychological leap buyers would need to take to accept a car without some sort of manual control will take time to evolve. Many will never accept it. A younger generation may be more willing however.
And will the required rules and regulations be in place by 2025 that would even allow a fully autonomous vehicle on the roads???
Tesla has been working on this for how long? And they appear to me to be at least 10 years away from Level 5.
The updated Maps app looks nice and zooms in more but the 2D satellite image is older than the previous version.
Maybe if/when Apple launches L5 Autonomous vehicles they can unleash them everywhere with cameras and finally be competitive with their Maps app.
(1) 'no steering wheel' (or something so autonomous that the steering wheel is there for psychological comfort only)
AND (2) sold direct to consumers
AND (3) released before 2030
BUT -- if you drop #2, then I think it's more plausible. In that scenario, Apple could sell rides in one of their cars through the iPhone. That would solve a lot of problems because it would mean that they could have the cars only provide rides along approved/validated routes. If somebody requested a ride that Apple can't fulfill, they could fall back to Uber or Lyft and their human drivers.
I see the market for 2 as a Den that moves. People will buy them because they have stuff they want to have with them. Kids stuff while they have young family. Workstuff for the road worrier. Tradespeople with utes full of kit. Still a big chunk of the market now and a probably a higher percentage of the future market.
I would have thought Apple would go Full self Driving but geographically limited to start. Build their own fleet for staff transport and semi-autonomous for staff and local sales in the Bay Area. Sell the crew pods to other campus-type companies build up the capabilities by region not by skill until they hit a critical mass of data and learning.
When FSD is well and truly ready I don’t think it will take very long for regulators to flip. Insurance companies will drive the change when auto accident statistics roll in with FSD autos showing a minuscule accident rate compared with conventional drivers behind the wheel. Insurance companies will love FSD. Money talks.