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Apple Car's Decade of Development and 'Failure' Detailed in New Report

bigjnyc said:
Waymo's are mapped with specific routes within a predetermined area, I guess you can say they are closer in full autonomy within those parameters yes. But as far as end user vehicle being able to drive anywhere thats not predetermined semi-autonomously its Tesla's FSD..... Granted I know its very flawed still.
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It has gotten better (mostly) over time.


Honestly I wasn't sure why a vehicle manufacturer would choose Apple's version of ADAS over MobilEye or Nvidia's.
 
TheLinkster said:
Gurman has zero credibility. I'd sooner read a "report" on the benefits of cocaine written by Pablo Escobar.
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At least Gurman has more credibility than Cook. The guy shut down discussions with the one guy who has shown how to do electric vehicles. Though I think the entire EV industry is a joke seeing that we don't have anything resembling a reliable infrastructure to manage an entire nation of electric transportation, at least Tesla has made some great looking EV's that work.

The fact is, Steve either would have found a way to make this work, or he would have shut it down LONG before a decade was wasted on it.
 
erikkfi said:
Acquiring an existing automaker would be a smart move, especially one that you might be able to buy at fire-sale prices and then fix up (Rivian or Fisker?). Then they'd be committed and probably would've gotten more focus instead of zig-zagging between "a car is infrastructure and hardware" and "a car is just software" (plot twist: it's both 🌎🧑‍🚀🔫🧑‍🚀).
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I'd be hesitant to buy Fisker, given how much they've gotten wrong. Seems like it'd be an uphill battle just repairing a name they felt compelled to plaster all over their car. 😂
 
My opinion as someone who has worked in Marketing and PR at Ford / Toyota / VW / and Chrysler... I recall rumors years ago about Apple possibly acquiring Tesla. I thought it --- then --- was a right move. Executive egos aside, it seemed then like a right combination of product, software, design ethic, customer targets, HHI targets, product / brand extension targets, etc.

Today, to me, merging the two companies still seems like a strong move. It is not needed. But it seems like a good move. It feels like Steve's "be where the puck is going" strategic sense... or as my Bulgarian colleague just pointed out, it's like "das Fingerspitzengefühl". I can imagine with wonder at the combined Apple & Tesla software wizardry used in:
- Tesla rockets...
- Tesla satellites...
- Apple computers...
- Apple phones...
- Apple wearables...
- Tesla solar panels and home battery energy systems...
- Tesla cars and trucks... (controlled by Apple wearables)
- Elon's "Matrix" style brain augments from NeuraLink... (controlling Tesla cars, satellites, Apple's computers, phones and Magic Goggles...)
- Apple's cloud services, personal and business productivity apps and software...
- Elon's Optimus robots (that will turn into Cylons who will then come up with a plan for humans...)
- X's Social media...

When I look at that list, I see coolness in the combination. And I see the beginnings of the Tyrell Corp / Weyland-Yutani Inc / Skynet / Greystone Industries (creators of Cylons). I really, really want to see that movie unfold in real life.

The issue, years ago, would have been dealing with executive egos. Tim is who Tim is. Elon is who Elon is. Tim could not long abide with an Elon overshadowing him at Apple. And that would have happened. Elon would eventually tire of Tim and the Golden Apple handcuffs. And that would have happened. Elon would have either eventually sought to displace Tim or leave and do his own thing. Any of that would have been an entertaining drama to see.

Who knows? People's personal feelings about Elon and X aside, if he can turn X into a money maker and stock-price ROI machine, it could be that it is Elon buying Apple in 5 or 10 years. So my dream of seeing Tyrell-Weyland-Yutani Corp in real life could still happen.
 
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dead.cell said:
I'd be hesitant to buy Fisker, given how much they've gotten wrong. Seems like it'd be an uphill battle just repairing a name they felt compelled to plaster all over their car. 😂
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It sounds like Fisker has a software problem, which should be in Apple's wheelhouse. Magna Steyr actually builds the vehicles and they are pretty good at what they do.
 
Churchman said:
When I look at that list, I see coolness in the combination. And I see the beginnings of the Tyrell Corp / Weyland-Yutani Inc / Skynet / Greystone Industries (creators of Cylons). I really, really want to see that movie unfold in real life.
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Wow. I’d suggest you’ve missed the whole point of all of those movies. None of the fictional companies you mentioned are intended to be aspirational. They’re WARNINGS about how EVIL companies like that can get.
 
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Dual disasters between the VP and now this, I'm going to stop looking at my AAPL ticker.
 
A car was never going to work. The world wasn't in shock(A headline I read - shock? no) when Apple shut the project down. A silly move.

My wish for Apple isn't that it ventures too much away from computers and peripherals. Focus on the Mac and macOS in particular.

It was too left-field for Apple to focus on making a car. Of all the things they could put their efforts into. They decided that a car was it!?

Could it be that boredom (the bad kind) is taking over at Apple? With everyone and their next door neighbor having a great idea. Too much money and too many hours in a day to think does that to you. "hey, everyone - here's an idea.. Let's make a car"

My defense is that I don't understand much of the world that it's now become. My comments are a reflection of that.
 
allan.nyholm said:
It was too left-field for Apple to focus on making a car. Of all the things they could put their efforts into. They decided that a car was it!?

Could it be that boredom (the bad kind) is taking over at Apple? With everyone and their next door neighbor having a great idea. Too much money and too many hours in a day to think does that to you. "hey, everyone - here's an idea.. Let's make a car"
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ArtOfWarfare made a great comment the other day, took me a moment to find it... but I feel they hit the nail on the head with what Apple was trying to do, before realizing the writing on the wall and just how far away they would still be before they could get a product out the door. And even once they were out the door, maybe not having anything new to bring to the market given the maturity and continued iteration of the tech already out there.

ArtOfWarfare said:
I'd guess this has to do with Tesla's FSD beta v12.

Tesla is nearing in on the holy grail - they already have 5M vehicles on the road ready to receive a software update to enable full self driving, and that's growing by over 200K every month (and that rate is growing). With v12 of the FSD Beta, the consensus seems to be that the end goal of driverless vehicles that operate everywhere worldwide in any conditions is within sight.

I'd be quite shocked if Apple weren't benchmarking FSD beta - it's an open beta, any of their employees could enroll a personal vehicle in it. 0.5% of the vehicles within the beta have v12 already - most of them are within California. Apple has the resources to pay anyone in the beta to borrow a car, if they want. And upon testing it, they find that Tesla is already at the finish line. They won't be able to catch up on the software front within 4 years.

Another snag - Tesla is already talking with every OEM about adding FSD to their vehicles. So if Apple wanted to enter the market, they'd have to build their own hardware. By the time it's ready, if Tesla hits a wall and can't grow beyond their current rate of 200K vehicles per month, Tesla would already have 15M vehicles running FSD worldwide - more likely they'll be closer to 25M. Apple wouldn't reach where Tesla was in 2028 until a decade later.

Apple was looking at using Magna to outsource production. The Jaguar I-Pace and Fisker Ocean went that route. How are they doing? Hypebeast naming the Fisker Ocean the worst vehicle ever last week may contribute to Apple's decision to kill the whole project, too.
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Vision Pro is out.

Anonymous user feedback data is rolling in.

The alleged car project gets shut down.

Coincidence? No.

Apple never actually commited to admitting they were releasing a car.

The entire thing was a data-gathering exercise to build better consumer electronics.
 
I don't think Apple would really have any trouble building a car, like say Sony (with Honda) have. I just think that they couldn't make the car that they wanted to make. Something that no other car is like. They could not have launched a car that was just like the others as it would severely damage their brand of trying to create something better than the status quo. They probably realised that to build this "Apple" car would cost too much and be way too painful in the long run, with not much in return. They are never going to be a brand with low margins like Tesla for example. Also I just don't think there is enough money in it for Apple, so they ditched it. I can also imagine they worked about accidents and brand damage things like that can have. The Apple Watch is saving lives, whereas the Apple car is killing people. It wouldn't sit well. It was a bad idea all along. They are better off building some other form of transport, a connected bike or something that would be more in tune with their healthy ethos. Or not bother at all.
 
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erikkfi said:
Acquiring an existing automaker would be a smart move, especially one that you might be able to buy at fire-sale prices and then fix up (Rivian or Fisker?). Then they'd be committed and probably would've gotten more focus instead of zig-zagging between "a car is infrastructure and hardware" and "a car is just software" (plot twist: it's both 🌎🧑‍🚀🔫🧑‍🚀).
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lmao.

First Fisker does NOT BUILD theie own vehicles - so some research is needed here on your suggestion as all Apple would be buying with Fisker is a brand.

Perosnally i KNEW all along this was a joke of an attemp by Apple and a complete waste of resources and finances!

This project alone should have Tim canned!

All this really was is Apple Maps and Car Play initiative that will now start to see in new cars, that holistic comolete UI.

Never fell foe this car project!!
Ps: my past unedited post history will match my words herein.
 
Jakeycov said:
I don't think Apple would really have any trouble building a car, like say Sony (with Honda) have. I just think that they couldn't make the car that they wanted to make. Something that no other car is like. They could not have launched a car that was just like the others as it would severely damage their brand of trying to create something better than the status quo. They probably realised that to build this "Apple" car would cost too much and be way too painful in the long run, with not much in return. They are never going to be a brand with low margins like Tesla for example. Also I just don't think there is enough money in it for Apple, so they ditched it. I can also imagine they worked about accidents and brand damage things like that can have. The Apple Watch is saving lives, whereas the Apple car is killing people. It wouldn't sit well. It was a bad idea all along. They are better off building some other form of transport, a connected bike or something that would be more in tune with their healthy ethos. Or not bother at all.
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As others have said, a better fit for Apple would be an e-bike.
 
Surf Monkey said:
Apple Watch ended up being successful but kind of in spite of Lynch.

The scale of some of these fiascos must make Scott Forestall laugh and laugh.
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This made me wonder where Forstall is now. A lot of people seem to want him back. Google says this:

Now, Forstall is spending his time travelling, advising startups and working on philanthropic endeavours. In 2015, Forstall announced that he was co-producing a Broadway musical which went on to win five Tony Awards. Presently, Forstall is still producing and advising tech startups.
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Wow. He sounds happy. He ain't coming back. Maybe Apple could hire him as a consultant, though.
 
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