If Apple is focusing upon markets with larger margins that is great news. Apple might want to disrupt the Hearing Aid market next, I know someone who paid handsomely for some recently that are pretty poor quality despite costing thousands.
Agree. Over the counter hearing aids will disrupt traditional over priced sets, but Apple can take it even further with phone and watch integration AND remove any stigma by making them fashionable, not unlike AirPods. I know they know this but where are they?
hmurchison said: All the issues (aside from cold weather and that's easily fixable) will be rectified with Solid State batteries which will produce either double the power for a given weight or today's power in half the weight which eliminates much of the weight issues of EV as well as thermal runaway.
The caveat to solid state batteries = nobody knows how to recycle them.
Who knows what is true or whatever was true.... but one thing facing all car manufacturers is the (US) national charging network never really materialized - its is shit. Charging is still way too slow; and the range is still signifcantly subpar on most models
We own one fully electric car and one gas, and will not do an electric again unless there is large improvements in all three areas. Perhaps Apple, if they were doing anything, sees that has a not insignificant issue for wide spread adoption.
Who knows what is true or whatever was true.... but one thing facing all car manufacturers is the (US) national charging network never really materialized - its is shit. Charging is still way too slow; and the range is still signifcantly subpar on most models
We own one fully electric car and one gas, and will not do an electric again unless there is large improvements in all three areas. Perhaps Apple, if they were doing anything, sees that has a not insignificant issue for wide spread adoption.
EVs are only just now hitting the market in any big way. It’s a bit premature to be making pronouncements about the charging network in past tense. Gasoline distribution wasn’t that great this early in the ICE automotive market either. Roads were bad and not interconnected, tires were like pencil erasers, etc.
Stay focus on what Apple do best and make money. Now Apple have more resources to help accelerate AI efforts. Good for Apple, good for employees, good for investors and good for consumers.
Stay focus on what Apple do best and make money. Now Apple have more resources to help accelerate AI efforts. Good for Apple, good for employees, good for investors and good for consumers.
Exactly. The Apple Car never made sense. Apple would have killed the interface but cars are a lot more than an interface and Apple has zero experience with the rest of it. I’d far rather see them partner with existing manufacturers and work on CarPlay then waste their time on a car.
EV are just fine. They're not going anywhere. All the issues (aside from cold weather and that's easily fixable) will be rectified with Solid State batteries which will produce either double the power for a given weight or today's power in half the weight which eliminates much of the weight issues of EV as well as thermal runaway.
Apple is smart to get out of cars because it's not a core competency. Apple barely does a good job repairing their computers and car repairs are another level of stress. I think they should continue to embed their IP into the nervous system of a car and the user interaction with the driver. That's what Apple excels at.
Idk. EVs have a ton of problems, from environmental impact to cost of ownership to what happens when it’s “dead.”
The gasoline cost savings are basically negated by the initial cost. Then there is the cost of maintenance or replacing a battery pack. God forbid you ever need to do that. Electric infrastructure hit is another. Crazy how the EVs are being pushed so hard before the infrastructure is built up to support it. Right now there are few enough on the road that charging at night helps. But when there are as many as ICE vehicles? Yikes. Better have the propane tank ready in the winter. Oh wait, that’s on the chopping block too. So then there’s firewood. Oh wait deforestation. Just producing the batteries causes enough environmental damage that you’d need to do a ton of driving in order to amortize that across a long time.
The better option would be turbo ICE vehicles thst burn cleaner (probably have to do away with diesel) or hydrogen vehicles which have a better environmental impact than EVs without any of the drawbacks.
EVs are in a troubling spot. Those that want one have one. And it isn’t as many as previously thought. The big companies thought they were into something when the first sales looked healthy, but they were sold as staggering losses. And then the volume dried up. Ford had to cut the f150 electrics in half! That’s psycho. The hyped Mach e is now a dud. Really only Tesla is healthy here. Rivian is a money pit, propped up by helps. Kia may be another healthy option, but it’s slim pickings.
Ideologies are great to have. Everyone wants a cleaner environment and better fuel prices. But there needs to be reality checks and things built along the way to support the eventual goal. Not what we’ve seen in recent years where people are dying from no electricity in winter, rolling blackouts, etc. simultaneous with the big push to rely on electricity (which is also very much provided by the burning of fossil fuels).
So EVs are a bit of a mess at the moment. Apple may have taken a look at all of that and decided the ocean is too red nowadays.
Full blown CarPlay in the other hand? That’s their forte. And some automakers have already realized that and are moving forward.
The work in “full self driving” may pay big dividends as well.
1. AI is only part of Apple Car not the whole thing. 2. The AI engineers are more useful in the Generative AI Group instead of self driving cars at this time. 3. Apple could not sell cars themselves because of the low margins in that industry and they have had difficulties partnering with car makers.
Here is a prediction for ya...
Apple will buy Canoo and move its automotive engineers there to thrive and let them operate as a separate wholly owned subsidiary.
i think this was just too big of a challenge for apple
maybe those staff can have another go on the AirPower
No. This was an excellent decision. Apple should stay as far away from the automotive industry as possible.
I agree with the sentiment for the reasons (and others) stated. But let's not paint too broadly here. CarPlay is an excellent product, and it is closely tied to "the automotive industry." There may be a similar role for technology in (other manufacturers' automobiles) Apple would be wise to explore further. Making their own branded car, not so much.
I see AAPL stock is up after this story was published.
My only disappointment would be a discontinuation of CarPlay. I was hoping for a system that could provide all driver-side services rather than sitting above androidauto.
"What, an Apple Car. Let me tell you, companies have been making cars for a hundred years. What could Apple bring to the product that they haven't already done? And 120,000 dollars. Who would pay that, especially when there isn't a physical keyboard."
Part of me is sad that Apple won't be making a car. But we know it would be expensive (although 120K is out of my price range). I was thinking it would be around 80K. Therefore one reason for quitting would be it would have a small market base. Maybe another part of the reason is there is still issues around charging etc. People who buy electric cars typically can charge at home. Sure those are Apple's core customers but a large number of customers will not buy an electric car because they cannot charge or the machine is out of their price range. The market is beginning to get crowded, especially in the high end. And finally, Apple probably didn't want to sink too much money into battery giga-factories. Without that the margins would be too low.
I'm with Starof80: Apple was never going to sell its own car.
Until I hear different from Tim Cook's mouth, the "Apple Car Project" was certainly tested in electric vehicles, yes, but was not intended to be a car -- it was intended as "let CarPlay/Apple worry about the user interaction experience in YOUR car" pitch to manufacturers. My proof of this is really quite simple: you can't just go out and build a car factory, you need permits galore to built ANY manufacturing facility pretty much anywhere, and Apple never filed for a single one.
Given that CarPlay 2 has now arrived, and is probably a little shy of Apple's goal, there's no reason to continue the project. CarPlay 2 was pretty much the goal.
Just to add another log to the Apple Car funeral pyre, look at how clumsily Apple has dealt with a tiny number of “rogue” Apple Stores that want to unionize. Imagine how Apple would handle dealing with the UAW.
Some may ask, couldn’t they simply hide behind a Foxconn controlled manufacturing operation in the US and do an end-around run past the UAW? I suppose they could, in theory. But you may want to ask the people in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin and Lordstown, Ohio how their little adventures on Foxconn’s fantasy island of promises of thousands of new manufacturing jobs played out. It seems like even shiny shoes on golden shovels cannot remove the mountain of crap that comes from partnering with Foxconn on US based manufacturing operations.
There is no future in private cars. I have said it dozens of times on this forum. Self-driving electric cars especially were never going to be commercially or technically viable in the short time-window they had. Apple was blind-sided by the US love of the automobile.
It is a shame Apple spent billions on a provably futile project.
If you believe that Apple is working behind the scene and invest in Apple based on your belief, it is a pure speculation.
If all employees are shifted to Generative AI, it shows that Apple underestimated the effort and timing for rolling it out. They need more headcounts as soon as possible to speed up for realizing their projects.
It clearly shows that Apple is in hurry.
Poor Tim, poor Apple. It was tired to listend to naysayers that Apple is lacking innovations, but in this time, they seem to be right.
Comments
The LAST thing the world needs are MORE cars. Apple or otherwise.
I kind of thought that Apple was using the Apple Car project as a skunkworks of sorts. Investigating ideas and concepts.
We own one fully electric car and one gas, and will not do an electric again unless there is large improvements in all three areas. Perhaps Apple, if they were doing anything, sees that has a not insignificant issue for wide spread adoption.
1. AI is only part of Apple Car not the whole thing.
2. The AI engineers are more useful in the Generative AI Group instead of self driving cars at this time.
3. Apple could not sell cars themselves because of the low margins in that industry and they have had difficulties partnering with car makers.
Here is a prediction for ya...
Apple will buy Canoo and move its automotive engineers there to thrive and let them operate as a separate wholly owned subsidiary.
And 120,000 dollars. Who would pay that, especially when there isn't a physical keyboard."
Part of me is sad that Apple won't be making a car. But we know it would be expensive (although 120K is out of my price range). I was thinking it would be around 80K. Therefore one reason for quitting would be it would have a small market base.
Maybe another part of the reason is there is still issues around charging etc. People who buy electric cars typically can charge at home. Sure those are Apple's core customers but a large number of customers will not buy an electric car because they cannot charge or the machine is out of their price range.
The market is beginning to get crowded, especially in the high end.
And finally, Apple probably didn't want to sink too much money into battery giga-factories. Without that the margins would be too low.
It is a shame Apple spent billions on a provably futile project.
If you believe that Apple is working behind the scene and invest in Apple based on your belief, it is a pure speculation.
If all employees are shifted to Generative AI, it shows that Apple underestimated the effort and timing for rolling it out.
They need more headcounts as soon as possible to speed up for realizing their projects.
It clearly shows that Apple is in hurry.
Poor Tim, poor Apple.
It was tired to listend to naysayers that Apple is lacking innovations, but in this time, they seem to be right.