Apple is definitely working in a car. They have hired automotive engineers and managers and had various popcorn modules quoted by Tier One suppliers. Some of those managers and engineers have quit Apple since and some suppliers have told Apple to pound sand. Apple wants to pay the lowest price and does not guarantee a reasonable volume to justify it.
What hasn’t happened is that it hasn’t amounted to any progress towards a leaked design or even a prototype that we are aware of. It’s the industry's worst kept secret, except there’s little information to be had because it is a secret. An NDA-kind of secret.
I’ve no other information except these vague generalities and logical conclusions. Little has changed in the last 3 years.
I think Apple has lost its focus. They can't even build a modem, but sure, let's build a car! Siri is a mess, the Swift compiler has a lot of problems, all sorts of software is buggy, they still can't figure out what to do with the iPad, and now there is the Vision Pro which has no clear reason to exist.
So much truth in this. Cook is a replicator, not a creator. Let alone a visionary. He’s good at driving prices up while milking Steve’s heritage, sadly…
Newsflash: Cook is what most CEOs are, or hope to be. Highly effective business person running a company. CEOs are very rarely product developers, Jobs was unusual in that, which is why he relied heavily on on his COO to run the company.
Thadec…..sorry but no…..Apple cannot build a modem. They have learned the hard way from the Qualcomm fiasco that even mighty Apple cannot get around the patent thicket that Qualcomm has. Purchasing Intel junk for $1.5b had yielded nothing except modem prototypes that are not even competitive with past or current modem designs. As for a car, do you folks realize that it’s not just building a car that is the amazing challenge, but you also have to provide services to these products that you have made which are much more sophisticated and costly than going to the Apple genius bar. You have to provide warrantees and parts for these products for years as well as locations to take them to be serviced and repaired. You also have to be subjected to recalls and lawsuits. This is an undertaking so big that Apple has never even dealt with in their prior experience. Everyone is so excited about what the electronics would be in this car, has it ever dawned on you that Apple has to make a car that can even pass crash tests…… We are talking about areas they have no idea of what it’s like to compete in.
I still think transportation as a service is the business model to use for a car, not selling cars to consumers. The big question is whether there’s a human driver or not.
Apple could start with human drivers of their custom designed EVs in key urban markets in the US and just see how it goes. As with Vision Pro, they don’t have to go mass market everywhere all at once.
If Apple is working on personal EVs my guess is that they’re trying to put all the pieces in place to time a launch with: solid state batteries; when zero emission mandates kick-in; and sufficient charging infrastructure is in place, for high volume sales.
They’re learning from Tesla and all the others as to what to do and not do.
They’re probably also hoping SpaceX doesn’t launch their own StarLink phone, because then they’d be competing with Elon on two fronts.
I have always considered the rumors of Apple Inc. making a full production bumper to bumper automobile specious. What I do think this codenamed project might really be about is what Emoter (above) alludes to: an integrated car electronics system that automobile manufacturers can purchase for inclusion in their production vehicles.
Recall that GM famously claimed they would stop making their cars CarPlay compatible, and the derision that greeted that announcement. People *want* to bring their phones to the car; and they *want* quality that a longtime tech manufacturer can bring in their cars. The idea that GM (or other car company) can do better is absurd. I've seen the Tesla version of this, and it is mediocre at best. Is CarPlay perfect? No. But it is what I asked for when I shopped cars. And when I rent them.
A company like Apple brings much to the table. Car companies can get out of the infotainment system and the necessary tech support that can be required for decades.
Done correctly, imagine an Apple Car on board electronic system being available in a rental car fleet. Nothing is more annoying than arriving at a destination airport and having to stand in a line to pick up a rental car. Sure, there are alternatives, and none of them insanely great. Imagine an Apple Car "rental services" division.
So the Apple patents/patent applications for such components as windshields, bumpers, door mechanisms, window mechanisms, seats and seat mechanisms, and others are all just to sell an advanced form of CarPlay or a Rent-A-Car business? And we'll just ignore the fact that rental car operations in general generate about 6% profit.
Ok, assuming that the previous reporting was correct and apple is planning on making its own car, and assuming this report is correct and they are planning on level 2 autonomy, they just became like every other car on the market. ‘Level 2+’ autonomy (adaptive cruise + lane keeping) is very commonplace now and in no way unique or differentiating.
What do they have to differentiate themselves in the automobile market? Sure there are Apple loyalists that they can depend on to buy an Apple Car but that won’t be enough to make it a viable product. If Apple were actually able to make it autonomous so it were level 3 or level 4 that would be something people would pay for. (level 3 needs a driver but the driver would be able to read a book, work on a computer, etc. and be able to take over when the car requests it) As it is, throwing another level 2+ EV into the market with no other differentiating features from a completely new manufacturer is a good way to waste money.
Apple is seeing no penalty from being "late to market" in the EV space, so why wouldn't they continue with R&D? If anything, they benefit from the experience of consumers in the current marketplace.
The previous bellwether for EV sales, Tesla, continues price cuts, has margins that are in line with or even worse than the automotive industry as a whole, and has still been rapidly usurped by BYD in volume, not to mention the superior build and quality of many other companies that have entered the market.
Tesla's FSD continues as beta level 2, and due to lack of LIDAR, will never be able to reach Level 3 in any of its current models, a lesson that the rest of the industry has learned.
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What hasn’t happened is that it hasn’t amounted to any progress towards a leaked design or even a prototype that we are aware of. It’s the industry's worst kept secret, except there’s little information to be had because it is a secret. An NDA-kind of secret.
You dudes have no idea what you’re talking about.
They’re learning from Tesla and all the others as to what to do and not do.
They’re probably also hoping SpaceX doesn’t launch their own StarLink phone, because then they’d be competing with Elon on two fronts.
Why take responsibility for reporting incorrect information when you can blame Apple?
What do they have to differentiate themselves in the automobile market? Sure there are Apple loyalists that they can depend on to buy an Apple Car but that won’t be enough to make it a viable product. If Apple were actually able to make it autonomous so it were level 3 or level 4 that would be something people would pay for. (level 3 needs a driver but the driver would be able to read a book, work on a computer, etc. and be able to take over when the car requests it) As it is, throwing another level 2+ EV into the market with no other differentiating features from a completely new manufacturer is a good way to waste money.
The previous bellwether for EV sales, Tesla, continues price cuts, has margins that are in line with or even worse than the automotive industry as a whole, and has still been rapidly usurped by BYD in volume, not to mention the superior build and quality of many other companies that have entered the market.
Tesla's FSD continues as beta level 2, and due to lack of LIDAR, will never be able to reach Level 3 in any of its current models, a lesson that the rest of the industry has learned.