how is a car a computer? i agree some parts fall under the definition af a computer, but mostly a car is a mechanical "device".
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Apple R&D Spending on Track to Top Record $10 Billion Amid Electric Vehicle Rumors
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how is a car a computer? i agree some parts fall under the definition af a computer, but mostly a car is a mechanical "device".
Unless Apple is making a car that will cost $10K and drive itself, this will be a niche product. Look at all the research that says people are moving more and more to high density cities. Those people are relying on mass transit. Those people look like.......current iPhone users. I'm a suburbanite, if the price is right (WHICH I DOUBT SINCERELY!!) I'll be interested in an Apple car, but the millenials that report to me? They don't own cars and the ones that do, regret buying them.
What's left, the developing world? Nope. They might want vehicles, but they don't have the infrastructue or wealth to support an Apple car.
China? Most of the country is still dirt poor. Yes, you have a HUGE middle class, but they too are in high density cities and rely on mass transit.
Apple needs to do something revolutionary with regards to the phone and the tablet. They need to push all the goodies they have in the labs that they're trying to meter out to us. They need to skip the iPhone 8 and go straigh to the 10.
Face it, they're facing seriously diminishing returns. Look at the growth of that R&D trend. What have all those billions bought them? Apple pencil? IPad pro? All great, but not reveloutionary and nothing that will make folks say an imphatic NO! To Samsung and Microsoft.
Apple needs to do something to completely change the conversation. The iPhone made everyone completely rethink how they thought about phones. That said, Android isn't sitting still. They want their billions also. The Galaxy Note 5 is sooo much better than the iPhone. I can't live without my iPad, but I do skip a generation.
Apple is facing what all mega profitable corporations face, the unbreakable law of large numbers. Good luck to them.
What's left, the developing world? Nope. They might want vehicles, but they don't have the infrastructue or wealth to support an Apple car.
China? Most of the country is still dirt poor. Yes, you have a HUGE middle class, but they too are in high density cities and rely on mass transit.
Apple needs to do something revolutionary with regards to the phone and the tablet. They need to push all the goodies they have in the labs that they're trying to meter out to us. They need to skip the iPhone 8 and go straigh to the 10.
Face it, they're facing seriously diminishing returns. Look at the growth of that R&D trend. What have all those billions bought them? Apple pencil? IPad pro? All great, but not reveloutionary and nothing that will make folks say an imphatic NO! To Samsung and Microsoft.
Apple needs to do something to completely change the conversation. The iPhone made everyone completely rethink how they thought about phones. That said, Android isn't sitting still. They want their billions also. The Galaxy Note 5 is sooo much better than the iPhone. I can't live without my iPad, but I do skip a generation.
Apple is facing what all mega profitable corporations face, the unbreakable law of large numbers. Good luck to them.
I believe it is Ford that makes the Focus.
Many people are contemplating a Mercedes or a Tesla... so it's possible.
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But a electric car is electronics....
I suspect much of that money is being wasted. Its a perfect example of Apple running out of ideas or lacking vision. Microsoft liked to brag about the billions they were spending every year on R&D at their developer conferences. Look how that turned out, Longhorn, failure in smartphone and tablets.
Those billions are being siphoned off by a bunch of PHDs in Apple labs around the world ordering pizza and Netflix subscription and probably taking long vacation/sabbaticals. If it was Steve Jobs, the RD budget would be less than $150 million dollars and actual innovation. It cost $150 million to make the iPhone, that was in 2003 to 2007 period. With how advance the technology has become now, Apple should not be spending so much on anything, whether its wearables or automotive.
Steve would have gotten it done for less, that is for sure. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and tell Steve Jobs to just do the surgery because you are going to regret it come 2011.
Those billions are being siphoned off by a bunch of PHDs in Apple labs around the world ordering pizza and Netflix subscription and probably taking long vacation/sabbaticals. If it was Steve Jobs, the RD budget would be less than $150 million dollars and actual innovation. It cost $150 million to make the iPhone, that was in 2003 to 2007 period. With how advance the technology has become now, Apple should not be spending so much on anything, whether its wearables or automotive.
Steve would have gotten it done for less, that is for sure. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and tell Steve Jobs to just do the surgery because you are going to regret it come 2011.
Apple is like the US Government -- Money in, NOTHING out. Like our taxes, where does all that R&D money go? Certainly not into making innovative computers.
Actually the Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro are brilliant.. The latency of the pencil compared to other "smart pens" is on another level. Considering I was anti-tablets, the Pro changed my view.
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What if it was a really COOL refrigerator?
What about fleets? I'm sure Uber, Lyft, Cab companies would love to order fleets of self driving cars. You millennials still use uber right, or is it all bikes these days?
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
Why not? The automotive industry is moving more and more into becoming a "computer on wheels" especially with self-driving capabilities. Just look at tesla. Phone's weren't computers, then they were slowly becoming computer-like, then the iPhone came out, and now everyone agrees that phones are computers.
I can't afford to buy a new iCar every year! Why couldnt they have spent this money on tweaking and fixing all the annoyances that are peppered throughout iOS and WatchOS, and really double down on innovation of iOS devices and Mac lineup!?!?
The reason they are going to cars is that Apple desperately needs a new revenue stream. The Apple Watch and the iPad are not going to cut it. The iPhone is reaching saturation point.
The next generation of automobiles are going to be completely technology driven (Pun not intended). Advanced sensors, self driving AI, and battery technology are the main drivers of the upcoming revolution from internal combustion manually driven cars to electric automatically driven cars. Apple has a lot of experience in those areas. Sure, it's a stretch, but they have to take a risk if they expect to find a fresh new revenue stream.
Can't argue with those types of people. They think everything Apple makes is great and buy items sight-unseen.
There were not iPod, iPhone or iPads before. Just small cheap experiments easy to overtake. In automobile industry Apple is competing against mayor corporations with ages of experience, Porsche, BMW, Ford, Toyota, Ferrari, Rolls Royce... They can imitate what ever Apple produces very quick and they have mayor levels of distribution worldwide already.
What Apple is doing is keeping the expectations high, the reality is that Apple as a computer company is doomed because it has no new proposals. Apple is a technology company making up proposals. I mean, is like this guy who is failing but is coming up with new ideas just to keep the spirit high. Tim Cook is just a manager, period, he is not a leader, he is not a creative mind. The Apple Watch is a failure, iTunes is a mess, they are not Steve Jobs and they do not have his vision. I would trust more Google, they are the ones moving forward without excuses.
Your comment is so stupid. Honestly. Good for Apple, good for Tesla, good for all the companies moving forward with electric cars.
The crazy thing probably won't even start unless it's connected to iCloud.
Maybe they will invest into desktop hardware and OS development, just 10% of R&D would be appreciated, thanks Tim..
Agreed. I couldn't possibly care less about an Apple car. The company has become overly focused on leftist causes instead of making tech products people want. I can't imagine Steve Jobs would have countenanced this kind of money pit project. In the meantime the MacBook Pro is languishing, the iPhone is becoming stale, and they are trying to build an ultra-niche car. This is a product no one is asking for.
Tesla, Mercedes, Toyota (Lexus), GM, BMW, VW in that order. Where does Apple car fit?? I really don't believe much in an apple car considering the competition.
All cars contain electronics, but they are definitely not computers.
So when will Apple actually show anything, and how will it actually change anything that Tesla hasn't?
If Apple wants to enter the car market, their best option would be to just buy Tesla. Tesla has $9B in assets. Apple could easily just buy them outright. Even if the company "isn't for sale", Musk only owns 22% of the company. Apple could do a hostile takeover.
The iPhone of cars is the Model 3. If Apple enters the market, they'll be the copycat, like Google and Samsung were with phones.
If Apple wants to enter a market ripe for disruption, I think the home and TV are much better choices. There's a lot of scattered efforts right now (including the Apple TV and HomeKit). Someone needs a more singular vision of how everything should work together, though. Right now it's all just a mess.
If Apple wants to enter the car market, their best option would be to just buy Tesla. Tesla has $9B in assets. Apple could easily just buy them outright. Even if the company "isn't for sale", Musk only owns 22% of the company. Apple could do a hostile takeover.
The iPhone of cars is the Model 3. If Apple enters the market, they'll be the copycat, like Google and Samsung were with phones.
If Apple wants to enter a market ripe for disruption, I think the home and TV are much better choices. There's a lot of scattered efforts right now (including the Apple TV and HomeKit). Someone needs a more singular vision of how everything should work together, though. Right now it's all just a mess.