Apple ramped up autonomous vehicle testing last year, filings show
wired.com
wired.com
However I would expect the auto maker to ensure they don’t go too low on buttons.
I honestly have no idea where all this is going. I’m curious. I think it would also make sense if they came up with good self driving stuff to just license that out to people, but that’s not the kind of thing Apple does. At least until now.
I agree with you that Apple would not want the headlines about their cars killing people. The way Tesla has had to deal with (right or wrong).
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/12/22/next-generation-carplay...
There’s a very open question of whether any auto maker will actually allow next gen CarPlay to do all that stuff.
I’m not keen on having to choose between an Apple or Android type of car, but better than the current state of OEM central consoles.
WhatsApp started as a .jar app for nokia dumb phones.
Would they do that? I would hope so. But I honestly don’t know.
quite profitably.
Also everyone can make a car, but then you become a competitor and get locked out of all other cars.
Are there any major or significant AI researchers working at Apple? It seems like I only ever hear about the big industry names moving between other big tech companies, but I'm not aware of anyone impactful in the AI space working at Apple. Maybe one of the key factors is that a lot of AI researchers like to publish their findings and Apple seems to be notoriously secretive? So even if Apple has a lot of top-tier researchers, maybe they're not publishing as much.
And yeah with AI, have a look at what companies they buy out. They won't be creating anything themselves. I'd be more interested to see if they make the mistake of relying on Lidar.
Chances are they're just trying to make something they can sell to existing car manufacturers. Like CarPlay just at a larger scale.
As someone who worked for Apple for nearly a decade on the engineering teams launching the iPhone and iPad, I beg to differ. While not the most "exciting" to those of us in Silicon Valley, Apple is a behemoth when it comes to factory. The engineering there is outstanding and even for those of us working higher up in the stack we didn't fully appreciate it until traveling oversees and intimately working within hw ops.
A lot of Apple's new product process is now public, but when the hardware moves from EVT to DVT it is the first time both SW Dev and HW Ops are working together in the factory and while still "owned" by Dev, it will be up to HW Ops to scale, optimize, and propose any key changes that we would not have considered or planned for - dealing with low yields. Once DVT transitions to PVT, Dev is under Ops direction - it's their world and we are there to serve them!
Before dismissing Apple's manufacturing design, engineering, and operations I would recommend learning a lot more if you are at all interested in this space or shipping your own products. Many companies in the valley building HW have adopted most of the principals Apple pioneered and refined in manufacturing...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-11-01/iphone-ma... https://archive.ph/WdSFX
The car industry followed the semi industry with the fabless model, where not every brand needs to build a new factory for every model they sell but they often, especially for lower volume models like Fisker, subcontract manufacturing out to dedicated contract car manufacturers like Valmet[1] or Magna Steyr[2] who have their own fabs and experience and make cars for established big brands. They're kind of like the Foxconn of the car industry.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valmet_Automotive#Production
[2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Steyr#Produzierte_Fahrze...
Designed in California. Made in China.
Can you imagine getting trying to get an Apple car repaired? They'll likely force you to buy your tires from them. Wheels on the Mac Pro cost hundreds, wheels for your Apple car will start at 2k each and will be serial locked to one vehicle.
Any kind of Apple car, whether it be purely Apple or a partnership is almost certainly going to be direct sale, cutting out dealers. It’s hard to imagine them doing anything else.
I would welcome this. There needs to be more direct sale options, I’m tired of looking at EV options to find all the local dealers have stocked only high end trims that they’ve further marked up with the base MSRP nowhere to be found.
So autonomous systems != cars
Is Apple's foray into autonomous systems purely for R&D, keeping engineering staff engaged, and spend some cash?
I recall seeing a video of Tim Cook being asked if Apple was building a car and he said something like Apple looks at a lot of things.
To me, and this is just a theory, Apple car was something to keep the media distracted from other developments. For example, Mac Rumors says the Apple Vision Pro was in development for over 10 years. But the first time I heard about the rumor of an VR/AR headset was in 2021.
Cars are a whole different competency then consumer electronics. Regulations, service centers, spare parts—talk about a headache! And imagine the fallout if an Apple car crashes or strands someone in the dead of winter. The automotive industry is notorious for turning brand loyalists into disgruntled critics. I see it all the time- people who swear they will never buy BMW, Merc, Jag, Kia, and Jeep.
Apple likes to squeeze suppliers. Would they be able to squeeze LG Chem or BYD for batteries on this self-driving electric car? Perhaps Apple Car will have a cheap under powered Hyundai 1.6L turbo and the Apple Car Pro will be electric.
- 12ms latency possibly not being short enough for driving
- The cameras still being relatively low quality, especially at night
- The FOV being far too narrow to allow peripheral vision
- The screens going black if the headset loses power
I got to use Vision Pro in my local Apple store yesterday, and it's not usable for driving.