“Right before Easter weekend Apple received a permit in California to turn three Lexus RX 450h hybrid SUVs into driverless cars, and for six drivers to take control if the cars misbehave,” Yoram Solomon writes for Inc. “Apple has been toying with the idea of a self-driving car for a while. Initially, through the internal, secretive Project Titan, and more recently through rumors of partnering or outright acquiring automakers McLaren and/or LIT Motors.”
“I don’t believe that Apple’s self-driving car, once released, will be safer, faster, consume less energy, or anything like that. The underlying technology will be on par with its competitors,” Solomon writes. “But I’m willing to bet that Apple will excel in the user interface, the iTunes and app-store-like infrastructure, and the design. I expect Apple to do things that were never done before. And for that — I expect customers to be willing to pay more.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yup.
It goes without saying that Apple would create a premium vehicle, premium-priced for premium customers as usual, not a some low-end crate. — MacDailyNews, September 21, 2015
There will be something(s) unique about Apple’s “car” that set(s) it apart from the rest of the market in such a way as to command a premium. — MacDailyNews, September 24, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Apple secures permit to test autonomous vehicles – April 15, 2017
Apple’s letter to the U.S. NHTSA reveals 30-year Detroit veteran on its stealth ‘Project Titan’ team – December 8, 2016
Apple files patent for autonomous vehicle collision avoidance system – December 8, 2016
Apple letter all but confirms plans for self-driving cars and commitment to privacy – December 5, 2016
Apple drops hints about autonomous-vehicle project in letter to U.S. transportation regulators – December 3, 2016
It’s not McLaren Racing, but McLaren Applied Technologies, that’s the apple of Apple’s eye – September 23, 2016
Apple-target McLaren is a tech company disguised as a carmaker – September 22, 2016
Supercar-maker McLaren says not in discussion with Apple ‘in respect of any potential investment’ – September 22, 2016
Apple in talks to acquire British supercar maker McLaren – September 21, 2016
Apple in talks to acquire electric vehicle-maker Lit Motors – September 21, 2016
If its freezes and stalls as much as Finder.app does then no thanks, I’ll pass.
This happens to me from time to time, but then again, I’m pushing my core2 duo, with slow HD, way too far. Other than this, it’s very stable, and after this latest update, maybe even a little perky.
Ymmv
Go Apple!
If it has as many bugs as CarPlay, I wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy.
Self Driving is a meaning less Buzz word like AR or VR, the hardware and the infrastructure just isn’t there yet, and the OS is even further away.
Yup. Never mind that the software isn’t half as far along as we’ve been led to believe, if nothing else it’s a logistical nightmare, and we won’t be buying them from anyone, not in a mainstream fashion, anyway. I am blown away by how much money is being dumped into this stuff. I expect this isn’t relating to a full-blown robot car, anyway.
both mr. apple and MDN might want to keep in mind that as the middle class continues to shrink, ( a long term and ongoing trend) there will be fewer and fewer people who can afford either an apple car or somebody else vehicle with an apple interface.
think sundance catalog, apart from women clothing and jewelry, they carry some interesting items, but generally they are quite expensive, one might say over priced.
they aim at a well heeled constituency, but tend to forget that there are also people of somewhat lesser means who also have good taste and wouldn’t mind owning some of these items themselves.
but because of the cost they are essentially luxury items compared to other mundane practicalities like putting food on the table, car and house repairs, medical expenses, mortgages, gas and heating costs etc.
i suspect that if they brought down their premium pricing somewhat they would also increase sales by making certain desirable items closer to more peoples reach. make it affordable and you end up making even more money.
which is pretty much the goal of being in business.
Maybe 3% of the population wants an electric car. And that is if the government supplies large subsidies to make the costs lower.
Well, that is an asinine comment, kent. From where did you pull that “3%” number? You are obviously just posting so that you can throw in that “government subsidy” comment. You do realize, I hope, that the oil and gas industry has received government subsidies and support for years. So your beloved ICE vehicle is built on subsidies, too.
You can make meaningless statements like that, kent, as is your nature. Or you might actually consider taking the time to understand that the answer *depends* on a number of factors, such as the effective driving range of an electric car, the availability and convenience of charging stations and the time required to recharge, performance, reliability, and total cost of ownership. In the end, the vehicle has to satisfy the same basic set of needs as existing ICE vehicles.
Preferences change over time. Years ago manual transmissions dominated the automotive scene. Now you can hardly find a new vehicle with a manual transmission, even on sports cars. The earliest automobiles were electric, and I suspect that we will see the ascendance of electric plug-in and hybrid vehicles over the next couple of decades. We are only one battery breakthrough away from rendering ICE vehicles obsolete.
P.S. I strongly support the development of renewable energy, too. Build out the U.S. electrical grid rather than building new oil and gas pipelines and the results will be better for the U.S.
As red as the state is, Texas recognized the need and began building out its electrical grid. The result has been a boom in industrial scale renewable energy. And, just in case you may not realize this fact, solar and wind have become highly competitive with fossil fuel based energy production, even at the currently low cost of natural gas. As the cost of oil and gas increase, you will have no choice but to acknowledge the economic advantages of renewables.
Stick that in your 3% hole and smoke it.
My guess is Apple is not developing a top to bottom system, but will be testing it’s stuff and needed a permit.
If Jony designed a car the thing would have no doors or windshield – just be a skinny block of aluminum.
Skiny is good if it’s a magic carpet-like device
A whole new set of potential safety problems for a vehicle that might share space with drones, telephone wires and bird/insect swarms. 😛
Silly puff piece article. Zero substance. And the MDN take is wildly hopeful and likely just plain wrong IMHO. People are not going to buy an Apple Car because the interface on the dash is prettier and looks like their phone. It’s laughable. Nice feature perhaps, but not a reason in and of itself to buy Apple in the car.
Dear Apple, I don’t care how heroically you solve new technologies, don’t put the MacPro on the back burner; I want you to renew it for realz.