Now that vehicles are evolving into essentially a smartphone on wheels, it’s no wonder that the interest of the inventor of the modern smartphone is piqued. But, what will “Apple Car” be, exactly?
Christopher Mims for The Wall Street Journal:
No one inside Apple is saying exactly what its plans are, but the company has been contemplating a role in autos for years, spending huge sums on hiring hundreds, then eliminating their roles when its priorities change, and almost as quickly hiring other engineers with similar skill sets, then firing yet more engineers, all to realize a still- mysterious ultimate vision.
The company also recently approached auto makers including Hyundai about a potential manufacturing partnership, then saw talks fizzle. It’s just as likely Apple is, as usual, experimenting until or unless it hits on something it thinks it can do better than anyone else.
“We have seen enough echoes in the supply chain that we know Apple is really looking into every detail of car engineering and car manufacturing,” says Peter Fintl, director of technology and innovation for Capgemini Engineering Germany, part of a multinational that works with dozens of auto makers and parts manufacturers. “But nobody knows if what Apple creates will be a car or a tech platform or a mobility service,” he adds…
If there is any tech company on earth with the resources to go it alone, building a new auto maker from the ground up, it’s Apple. But there is no indication this is the company’s aim. If Tesla is the model here, it’s unclear why Apple’sexecutives would want to endure the tortuous process of building the manufacturing, testing and service capacities this path would require.
If providing the brains for other auto makers’ vehicles is unlikely, and competing directly with Tesla and every other electric vehicle startup unsavory, that still leaves another option for Apple. As the automotive industry inches toward self-driving taxi services, Apple’s persistence in both acquiring and developing software and hardware for electric, autonomous vehicles could signal its long-term ambitions. Could an Apple mobility company, instead of an Apple Car, make the most sense?
MacDailyNews Take: We’d bet on standalone vehicles over anything else, although a mobility offering would be our second choice.
Why not all three? Seems to me the iPhone was like that, a phone, a computer and an iPod all rolled into one.
Exactly this
Apple is an ecosystem. Car will combine with glasses and AirPods (in transparency) to provide an AR driving experience so cool it makes people feel they’ve never really driven before hopping in An Apple Car. For example, Apple Glasses will provide an unobstructed view to the driver and passengers, making it as though there were no roof, hood, corner beams, mid beams, or rear seats. Using cameras, processing and glasses, Apple Car drivers will be the most aware drivers in the world. Now imagine AR for rear view, speed, radio. Plus major aspects of the vehicle will be entirely reimagined and redesigned, making these vehicles cheaper than expected and with better reliability. I know for a fact they’ve been hiring auto body structural engineers for a decade.
@Higo. Wow, some fascinating ideas there. Most certainly some vision of the future of driving.
I guess I just wonder about all of that reliance on tech with milliseconds to avoid an accident, or make a choice as to who or what to hit. Child with a ball -vs- a squirrel is pretty easy, but two adults? Or Tree -vs- car with people in it, or?…
Presumably, we’ll get all of this right one day, but unlike autopilot on a plane where the skies are monitored by ground support as well as interior, I just wonder about the more massively complex problem of monitoring all of the things that manifest as “traffic” and obstacles on the ground.
I also wonder about the biggest obstacle being the limitations of human sensory interface with the physical world. We don’t have eyes in the back (or even side) of our heads, can’t hear, sense or smell as well as various animals. I notice that I’ve nearly completely lost my ability to spell without spell-correct. I used to employ techs in their early 20s who could not read a map or return to the same place twice in a small town without GPS.
Whatever Apple does, it sure makes for good viewing. All those sci-fi novels I read as a kid coming to fruition.
A self-driving car is essentially a robot. No way Apple drops personal robotics Revolution and lets another company become the most popular computer brand.
Self driving robot cars for rich lazy folk will prove disastrous on the roads unable to react to unlimited conditions with limited programming. That’ll be the day I trust my life on the road to a computer in rain, snow and black ice storm. My computer above my eyebrows beats them all…