[Rev_That_V8]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Back in 2007, Apple didn't have any competency in phone design

I do agree that Apple can pull this off, but, they need suppliers to do the manufacturing for them (e.g. Sony provides Image processing solution , Flextronics supplies PCB components etc. Design is the only thing Apple does.)
They need someone to supply cars for them to do this, which big auto OEM companies won't because of obvious reasons and small auto companies won't have the experience/quality. Apple is an OE for mobile-phones if they(apple) want to bond with an OEM auto company then they must become a supplier (which Apple will lose power to make decisions for automated-cars if the OE doesn't wish.)
It still is possible via the only way that Apple has to buy/find an auto company (maybe those who are doing poor in finance or a company with similar vision of building automated cars but lack tech experience).

but, again its a huge risk and if it clicks it will yield a huge reward as well.
Again this is my perspective , might be wrong too.

[ambivalent_98]

Apple needs to market the car like they did the under featured iPhone and made it a winner. Here is an interesting take on the Apple car.
Dieter Zetsche , CEO of Diamler AG said “If there were a rumor that Mercedes or Daimler planned to start building smartphones then [Apple] would not be sleepless at night. And the same applies to me,”

http://fortune.com/2015/02/25/mercedes-apple-car/

[RocketRaccoon]

Note - This is my first TeamBHP post. Please let me know if I make any errors.
Walter Issacson's biography on Steve Jobs mentions that Steve always wanted to revolutionize the living room and the automobile if he had enough time to live. Tim Cook has time and again mentioned that Apple is going along and will always go along the vision Steve had created for Apple.

Therefore, though seemingly far fetched, an iCar could be a possibility in the future (not near future but far future ) Think about it - Apple is the most valuable brand in the world and specializes in reinventing entire industries with their products. With the iPod, the music industry was reshaped; with the iPhone, the post PC era was reshaped; with iWatch, Apple wants to reshape wearable technology and with electric and hybrid cars numbers increasing in Europe ans US, Apple probably already has a vision of futuristic cars and it's technology strength combined.

Moreover, they are sitting on a cash pile that crosses GDP of some countries combined. Who knows 10 years down the line, we would see an iCar with no dials on the dashboard and a heads up display [HUD] on the widescreen instead !

"Siri, how far is my destination?" At your current speed approximately 28 minutes. Thank you Siri.

[Steeroid]

Apple updates its Trademark to cover vehicles and accessories:

http://www.iclarified.com/47426/appl...cover-vehicles

Looks like this is for real?

[RSR]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Apple updates its Trademark to cover vehicles and accessories.

Looks like this is for real?

Well, I think this is as serious an indication as any of Apple's intent to get into the automobile business.

It looks like an all-electric car wearing the famous half-eaten fruit logo on its front grill is going to become a reality sooner than we expect!

Is it going to command an insane premium over normal cars, and even all-electric ones such as the Nissan Leafs (Leaves?) and Renault Zoes of the automobile world? Like the Teslas, perhaps?

I personally don't think so. While an Apple iCar or whatever Tim Cook & Co. are cooking up for us is not going to be cheap, I don't think it's going to be insanely priced, either!

That's because I don't think Apple's electric car is going to be a conventional one like the Leaf or Zoe, let alone a Tesla.

Is it going to be glorified Mahindra e2o-like car with a snazzy design running Apple's automotive flavour of Unix then? Not exactly, but this is likely closer to it than a conventional electric car like a Leaf or a Zoe.

In fact, the closest thing I can think of would be Gordon Murray's brilliant revolutionary design, and a well-know motorcycle manufacturer's implementation of it - the fabulous little Yamaha MOTIV.e:



Tim Cook & Co. are not dumb to attempt to take on the conventional automobile manufacturers (even a relatively new one like Tesla) and beat them at their own game.

The folks at Apple know very well that on a level playing field, they stand absolutely no chance of competing against the conventional car makers at a game of automobile football. The conventional car companies would crush Apple and gleefully gulp down the resulting fruit juice.

The only way Apple can come out unscathed or even try to win the game is by shifting the goalposts to their advantage. And that means completely revolutionising the way electric cars are manufactured and sold.

I mentioned Gordon Murray & the Yamaha MOTIV.e because of this reason. They are trying to herald a revolution. Apple may draw inspiration from such an idea, implement their own version of it, make it extremely famous, get all the credit for it and of course, rake in the billions!

[Prash22]

Sergio Marchionne, CEO Fiat Chrysler recently met Tim Cook, CEO Apple. Sources have said Apple has been developing its own electric self-driving car.
The project was rumored to be approved by Tim Cook in 2014.

marchionnes-proposal-for-apple-car-deal-isnt-as-crazy-as-it-sounds

[Jeeper1941]

So, according to the Guardian newspaper, Apple seems to be working on a self-driving car. I wonder how far along they actually are, seems they may have a working prototype, as the article suggests Apple are looking for a secure area to test their car.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...-than-expected

[VIPER_SRT]

Originally Posted by Jeeper1941

So, according to the Guardian newspaper, Apple seems to be working on a self-driving car. I wonder how far along they actually are, seems they may have a working prototype, as the article suggests Apple are looking for a secure area to test their car.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...-than-expected

Earlier predictions by experts project a launch date of 2020. That could be a realistic time frame as the prototype will go back to the drawing board many times over for Apple's belief in perfectionism!

[karan561]

Apple car will be competing with Google's self driving model taking the rivalry between the two giants to whole new areas and heights.

Apple car is also expected to have self drive features such as driving & parking assistance, but definitely wont be all self drive in real world conditions.

Apple is set to increase its team strength for project Titan from 600 to 1800 people to make sure everything goes well.

Launch date set in 2019

Source

[Nempuguru]

Some update on project Titan from Apple.

Apple Inc has designated building an electric car as a "committed project" and has set a target shipping date for 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The project has been code-named Titan and its leaders have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter.

For Apple, a "ship date" doesn't necessarily mean the date that customers receive a new product; it can also mean the date that engineers sign off on the product's main features, the WSJ said.

Apple spent more than a year investigating the feasibility of an Apple-branded car, including meeting with two groups of government officials in California, according to the Journal.

The Cupertino, California-based company doesn't currently plan to make its first electric vehicle fully autonomous, WSJ said on Monday.

Apple has been consistently hiring car experts as part of its effort to build a team in automated driving.

Apple has hired this year Megan McClain, a former Volkswagen AG engineer with expertise in automated driving, and Vinay Palakkode, a graduate researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, a hub of automated driving research.

Apple also hired a senior engineer from electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc, according to a LinkedIn posting.

Source: Reuters

[darklord]

Apple Ends 'iCar' Cooperation Talks With BMW, Daimler: Report

BMW and Daimler, two of the most popular German carmakers, have reportedly ended talks with Apple over a cooperation deal related with creating an electric car, rumoured to be called the 'iCar'.

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/others/news/...-report-830261

[GTO]

From the New York Times:

Apple is rethinking what it plans to do about self-driving cars, just as other big tech companies appear ready to plow ahead with competing efforts.

In a retrenchment of one of its most ambitious initiatives, Apple has shuttered parts of its self-driving car project and laid off dozens of employees, according to three people briefed on the move who were not allowed to speak about it publicly.

[fz_rider]

Another twist to the plot. According to Autocar, Apple is in talks with McLaren, with possbility of take over. McLaren is been valued at 1.5 billion.
Its just a rumour as of now!

Source: http://m.autocarindia.com/Article.as...3050&type=News

[Jeroen]

Mclaren is denying all these rumors

[gopi_rm]

Apple has shelved off its car project for now and a 2017 deadline is given to the Project Titan team to prove the project feasibility.

Many project engineers have been reassigned to different projects, asked to leave and few have left on their own terms.

Apple has given its automotive team a late 2017 deadline to "prove the feasibility" of its self-driving car system, and decide on a final direction for the platform, according to Bloomberg.

The project's shift has allegedly resulted in hundreds of employees being reassigned, let go, or leaving on their own terms since August, including more than 120 software engineers.

The remaining members of Apple's car team, which comprises about 1,000 people, are said to be working on "autonomous programs, vision sensors, and simulators for testing the platform in real-world environments." Apple is said to have kept staff numbers in the team steady by hiring people to help with the new focus.

Link