Apple wants to build its first car in 2024

[Mike Mercury]

The car project appears to be back on

https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/21/...g-battery-tech

Apple once again appears to be seriously looking at making a car. Reuters reports that Apple is pursuing production of a passenger vehicle by 2024 as well as the creation of self-driving systems and a “breakthrough battery technology.” The report is vague on how it all comes together — it’s not clear that all of this tech is going into the first passenger vehicle Apple hopes to make — but it indicates that Apple is considering vehicle production, after previously shutting down plans to make a car.

There have been rumors of Apple developing a car going back to 2015. But in 2016, the project was scaled down significantly, with development of a full car being scrapped and Apple’s team refocusing on providing software that could be licensed out to car manufacturers, according to reports at the time. Around 200 people were laid off from Apple’s car team just last year.

Now it seems that Apple has renewed its focus on building an actual vehicle — though there’s a lot of uncertainty on when (and even if) it will happen. Reuters says 2024 is the production goal for an Apple-made passenger vehicle, though it could be pushed back “into 2025 or beyond” because of pandemic-related delays. There is also still a chance Apple could scale its efforts back to just autonomous driving tech, the report warns.

The report says that Apple is relying on third parties to provide some components of its self-driving tech, including its LIDAR systems. Apple’s battery technology reportedly relies on a “monocell” design that allows more capacity to be fit into the overall battery unit by not dividing it up into discrete cells. Reuters reports that it could allow for “a potentially longer range” and lower costs.

If Apple is planning to manufacture a self-driving car, it may also face regulatory hurdles before it can hit the road. There are no true self-driving vehicles available today, though some cars, like those from Tesla, offer a degree of advanced driver assistance driving in certain situations.

Earlier this month, Apple handed control of its self-driving car project over to John Giannandrea, the company’s head of AI. Giannandrea was brought on board in 2018 to work on Siri, after previously working at Google as head of search and artificial intelligence.

Just yesterday, another report, from the Economic Daily News in Taiwan, said that an Apple-made car could be released as soon as 2021 in what would be a stunningly ambitious timeframe if true. Back in 2018, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted the launch of a car between 2023 and 2025, according to MacRumors. Generally, though, the impression has been that Apple was focused on self-driving technology for the past several years, rather than production of an actual Apple-branded vehicle.

[Jeff '79]

That is pretty huge news.
Apple stock will continue to roll.

[Aerovette]

You will have to charge it at an Apple station only and for security reasons, you cannot access it.

[Olustee bus]

Probably will crank the damn thing by swiping across the dash, left to right and turn it off by tapping the dash twice. Apple logic.

[snide]

Originally Posted by aerovette

You will have to charge it at an Apple station only and for security reasons, you cannot access it.

Well, you know they won't be including the charger or power cable in the box...

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by snide

Well, you know they won't be including the charger or power cable in the box...

I'd have the last laugh. I'll make my own charging cable .

[DJ_Critterus]

It'll offer "brand new" features that are already 2 years old and some "genius" who knows nothing about cars will have to be the one diagnosing and fixing it.

[Steve_R]

Originally Posted by aerovette

You will have to charge it at an Apple station only and for security reasons, you cannot access it.

And every software update will reduce the battery life.

[Wathen1955]

Cost? $75k (knowing Apple pricing).

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by Steve_R

And every software update will reduce the battery life.

Forcing you to buy a new car after 2 years.

[Bill]

I'm sorry, sir, your Apple1.0 car is no longer supported by Apple, so now that your car's computer has bricked, perhaps you'll consider selling it for scrap and applying the proceeds to our new Apple 3S model that allows the driver to activate and deactivate cruise control from you home Alexa device?

[Rodnok1]

Bet it'll be fun going to the Apple Genius Car guy.. Lol.
I'd rather hang TVs with Dave.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by Steve_R

And every software update will reduce the battery life.

It probably won't even be water proof, but there will be so many filters to use with the backup camera

[Mike Mercury]

once they release Apple Car V2... your V1 car will strangely start slowing down.

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by DJ_Critterus

It probably won't even be water proof, but there will be so many filters to use with the backup camera

Hey look. That light pole I backed in to has puppy ears !!

[Bill]

Originally Posted by aerovette

Hey look. That light pole I backed in to has puppy ears !!

Damn you Aero! I just spit out coffee on my sweatshirt. Thankfully it's warming up so I would have taken it off soon anyway.

[Mike Mercury]

Elon Musk says Apple refused a meeting to acquire Tesla
128 comments

He considered selling during Model 3 production in 2017, but Tim Cook wouldn’t talk

https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/22/...sition-refused

Elon Musk said Tuesday that he wanted to sell Tesla to Apple during the “darkest days” of the Model 3 rollout but that CEO Tim Cook “refused” to take the meeting.

Musk dished about the proffer in response to a tweet about how Apple has reportedly reignited its desire to make and sell an electric, autonomous vehicle. He noted that Tesla was worth about one-tenth then what it is now, as the electric vehicle company rounds out a remarkable year where a meteoric stock price run turned it into the most valuable automaker on the planet. Of course, in 2017 Tesla was still hemorrhaging money and had not yet produced an electric vehicle at high volume.

Elon Musk

During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple has spent the last half-decade toying with an entry into the worlds of electric and self-driving cars, but up until this week was thought to be focused on developing software and other technologies that could be sold to other companies. But on Monday, Reuters reported that the Silicon Valley giant has retrained its focus on making an electric, autonomous car for general consumers.

One of the reasons Apple reportedly changed directions again is that it has made progress on a potential breakthrough with regards to the battery. According to Reuters, Apple has been developing a lithium iron phosphate battery that can be packaged more tightly in the car’s battery pack, cutting down on weight while increasing the potential energy density.

Musk pointed out on Twitter on Tuesday that Tesla is already using iron phosphate batteries in some of the cars it’s making in China.

“Strange, if true,” he wrote.

Tesla and Apple have swapped a lot of talent over the last decade. When rumors of an “Apple car” first emerged in 2015, Musk joked that Apple was a “Tesla graveyard.”

“If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding,” he said.

Musk said at the time that an electric car was “the next logical thing” for Cook and Apple to work on.

“It’s good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches,” Musk said.


meanwhile...

[Aerovette]

Apple building an electric car is going to moisten every lib nationwide. They better put seats in it that are unaffected by bodily fluids.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by aerovette

Apple building an electric car is going to moisten every lib nationwide. They better put seats in it that are unaffected by bodily fluids.

They better build more nuclear and coal fired power plants so the grid holds up. Wait, they'll just do rolling blackouts in Commiefornia which are also proven to weaken wild fires.

[DAB]

great, the world needs more white cars.