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Apple Reportedly Running Secret Car Lab in German Capital

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Apple is operating a secret vehicle research and development lab in the heart of Berlin, claims a report published in a German news outlet this morning.

According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (also known as F.A.Z.), Apple's clandestine facility employs between 15 and 20 "top class" men and women from the German automotive industry, with backgrounds in engineering, software, hardware, and sales.

The workers at the car lab are described as "progressive thinkers" in their respective fields who agreed to work with Apple after their ideas for innovation were stifled by the more conservative outlooks of their previous employers.

Apple-car-BMW-DriveNow.jpg

The article goes on to repeat previous speculation surrounding Apple's rumored vehicle research, noting that the company's first car will be electric, but also ventures to claim that it will lack self-driving capabilities because the required technology is still in development.

Additionally, the report alleges that Apple is investigating a vehicle-sharing model similar to BMW's Drive-Now and European car rental service Sixt, owing to the company's lack of a nationwide distribution network. Similar to previous rumors, Austrian contract manufacturer of high-end cars Magna Steyr is also cited as a partner for vehicle creation once the R&D stage is complete.

Apple Car rumors have gained momentum since early 2015, when The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has hundreds of employees working to develop an electric vehicle under the codename "Project Titan." The bulk of research and development is thought to be taking place in an Apple-leased Sunnyvale campus in California, where loud "motor noises" were heard, sparking speculation that the building is a secret car testing facility for Apple's automotive project.

Tim Cook teased about the possibility of an Apple Car in February by saying "it's going to be Christmas Eve for a while," suggesting the much-rumored project will not be publicly revealed for some time.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Running Secret Car Lab in German Capital
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/18/apple-secret-car-lab-in-german-capital/
The workers at the car lab are described as "progressive thinkers" in their respective fields who agreed to work with Apple after their ideas for innovation were stifled by the more conservative outlooks of their previous employers.
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You just have to love that statement and the courage that they turned off safe harbors.

Thats exactly the problem with germanys tech culture. They lack progressive CEOs!
 
xii said:
You just have to love that statement and the courage that they turned off safe harbors.

Thats exactly the problem with germanys tech culture. They lack progressive CEOs!
Click to expand...

Risk-taking has never been part of the German culture.
Everybody likes to have the old Kaiser back (the are even now rebuilding his City Palace in Berlin) and by now every large tech company is run by a bean-counter...
 
Motor noises is publicity and a cover for real plans. Do we really think an Apple car will make motor noises? I say no.

Apple has big wheels to fill. The Tesla Model 3 is a revolution. Considering Apple's design track record of protruding cameras and antenna lines on its main iPad and iPhone products, I'm worried what an Apple car might end up being, but look forward in great anticipation. An Apple car will however need to leapfrog even Tesla's recent attempts, otherwise it will be a pointless exercise for Apple. Fingers crossed.
 
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cicalinarrot said:
Apple's phone: $100 production cost in China, they sell millions = $600 for the buyer
Apple's car won't be cheap.
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Who'd buy one? When I buy a car, it's not based on tree hugging crap like economy, efficiency and how green it is, which is what Apple's effort will be.

When I buy a car it's based on (but not limited to) the following:

The history of the brand
Power
Speed
Sound
How much fun I am going to have driving it
 
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smacrumon said:

Apple has big wheels to fill. The Tesla Model 3 is a revolution. Considering Apple's design track record of protruding cameras and antenna lines on its main iPad and iPhone products, I'm worried what an Apple car might end up being, but look forward in great anticipation. An Apple car will however need to leapfrog even Tesla's recent attempts, otherwise it will be a pointless exercise for Apple. Fingers crossed.
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Apple does have big competition but I don't think if Apple's car doesn't leapfrog over Tesla's it'll be pointless. There's enough market share for the both of them. I could see myself owning both a Tesla and Apple Car.

With all the talent Apple has hired, they should be able to come up with something great.
 
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Steve121178 said:
Who'd buy one? When I buy a car, it's not based on tree hugging crap like economy, efficiency and how green it is, which is what Apple's effort will be.

When I buy a car it's based on (but not limited to) the following:

The history of the brand
Power
Speed
Sound
How much fun I am going to have driving it
Click to expand...

Most people who have passed their teens would prioritise differently. Things like ride comfort and tax status are important to most people.

History of the brand? Partially. Alfa Romeo still sells plenty of cars, despite a reputation for poor reliability. Volkswagen admitted their cars were tuned to lie to emissions inspectors, but it won't have a very significant impact on sales. GM still sells cars, and they admitted covering up design flaws that led to people's deaths. Tesla's Model 3 became one of the biggest car launches ever, and they're a relatively new and unproven company. So loads of people still buy cars from tarnished or new brands.

Sounds from electric cars are faked anyway; you're not going to get that raw gut-wrenching warble from a speaker hooked up to an electric motor.
 
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Remember before the watch came out, when we would see stories with the same frequency about top designers this, and biometric feedback experts that? Two years later we got a thick, mini-iPhone with a strap, running about the same heart rate monitor that everyone else has. I am preparing to be equally disappointed in the car.
 
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newyorksole said:
I wonder if Steve ever sparked any discussions about an Apple Car when he was alive.
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I don't think he likes the idea. He's well known for being focus person. As what he normally claims himself that Apple should only make products they're good at. I think!
 
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cicalinarrot said:
Apple's phone: $100 production cost in China, they sell millions = $600 for the buyer
Apple's car won't be cheap.
Click to expand...
Can you provide sources for the 100 USD production costs claim?
Recent articles suggest a bill of materials of around 220 to 250 USD per phone; R&D, transportation, advertisement and all the other associated costs are not included in those 220 to 250 USD.
 
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xii said:
You just have to love that statement and the courage that they turned off safe harbors.

Thats exactly the problem with germanys tech culture. They lack progressive CEOs!
Click to expand...

German culture is very different from Anglo-Saxon culture. If a British/American company is doing well, they attempt to expand and diversify, to get bigger ambitions about their place in the world. If a German company is doing well, they continue to do what they're doing while refining their processes, becoming the best in the world at each tiny, specialist role.

That's the German mittelstand. They are 99% of German companies and make up about 2/3 of exports. Some of them make a single part, like a particular screw used in railway engineering, or other very niche thing. And they're happy to sit there for generations and not really diversify.
 
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