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Apple is picking up its work on an Apple-designed car and is aiming to create a fully autonomous vehicle, reports Bloomberg. Apple is "refocusing" the project around full self-driving vehicles, a goal that other car manufacturers have not been able to achieve.

Apple-car-wheel-icon-feature-yellow.jpg

Work on an Apple Car began way back in 2014, and since then, the project has gone through multiple transformations. At one point, rumors suggested Apple had abandoned its plans for a full vehicle and would instead focus on software, but rumors began picking up again in 2020. It's now been made clear that Apple intends to launch its own vehicle.

As Bloomberg explains, Apple worked on two vehicle paths, one with limited self-driving capabilities and a second with full self-driving functionality that does not require human intervention, and the company will now pursue this second path under the leadership of Kevin Lynch, who joined the project earlier this year. Apple has hit a "milestone" in developing the self-driving car system, and has finished the core work on the chip that will power the first car.

Apple wants to design a car that lacks a steering wheel or pedals, and with an interior that's aimed at hands-off driving. Bloomberg said that Apple has considered a design similar to the Lifestyle Vehicle from Canoo, in which passengers sit along the sides of the vehicle, facing one another.

Apple is still discussing the inclusion of a steering wheel, which may be required so people can take over in an emergency situation An iPad-like tablet could be in the middle of the vehicle, which passengers would be able to interact with.

Apple wants its car to be safer than those manufactured by Waymo and Tesla, with redundancies and failsafes to avoid failures. The vehicle will be electric, with Apple discussing charging that's compatible with the combined charging system so Apple vehicle owners can use a global network of chargers.

Using Lexus SUVs outfitted with LiDAR scanners and other equipment, Apple has been testing its self-driving system. Bloomberg says that Apple will test the new processor that it has developed in those cars, along with new self-driving sensors.

Apple is said to be aiming to launch its self-driving car in four years, which would put a debut right around 2025. Whether Apple will be able to hit that goal will depend on whether Apple can develop a full self-driving system. Should it not be able to meet its aims, Apple could delay launch or sell a car that's less technologically advanced. The timeline is aggressive, and Apple is ramping up hiring to meet deadlines.

Article Link: Apple Working Toward Fully Autonomous Car With No Steering Wheel or Pedals, Aiming to Launch in 2025
Not going to happen. The technology is not NEARLY mature enough for a fully autonomous car in the conventional sense. Maybe something that follows a predetermined route. Maybe.
 
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This will never see the light of day and be driving on public streets in any of our lifetimes.
Fully Self-driving cars (without a steering wheel) will likely follow the same course as nuclear fusion.
 
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Apple is picking up its work on an Apple-designed car and is aiming to create a fully autonomous vehicle, reports Bloomberg. Apple is "refocusing" the project around full self-driving vehicles, a goal that other car manufacturers have not been able to achieve.

Apple-car-wheel-icon-feature-yellow.jpg

Work on an Apple Car began way back in 2014, and since then, the project has gone through multiple transformations. At one point, rumors suggested Apple had abandoned its plans for a full vehicle and would instead focus on software, but rumors began picking up again in 2020. It's now been made clear that Apple intends to launch its own vehicle.

As Bloomberg explains, Apple worked on two vehicle paths, one with limited self-driving capabilities and a second with full self-driving functionality that does not require human intervention, and the company will now pursue this second path under the leadership of Kevin Lynch, who joined the project earlier this year. Apple has hit a "milestone" in developing the self-driving car system, and has finished the core work on the chip that will power the first car.

Apple wants to design a car that lacks a steering wheel or pedals, and with an interior that's aimed at hands-off driving. Bloomberg said that Apple has considered a design similar to the Lifestyle Vehicle from Canoo, in which passengers sit along the sides of the vehicle, facing one another.

Apple is still discussing the inclusion of a steering wheel, which may be required so people can take over in an emergency situation An iPad-like tablet could be in the middle of the vehicle, which passengers would be able to interact with.

Apple wants its car to be safer than those manufactured by Waymo and Tesla, with redundancies and failsafes to avoid failures. The vehicle will be electric, with Apple discussing charging that's compatible with the combined charging system so Apple vehicle owners can use a global network of chargers.

Using Lexus SUVs outfitted with LiDAR scanners and other equipment, Apple has been testing its self-driving system. Bloomberg says that Apple will test the new processor that it has developed in those cars, along with new self-driving sensors.

Apple is said to be aiming to launch its self-driving car in four years, which would put a debut right around 2025. Whether Apple will be able to hit that goal will depend on whether Apple can develop a full self-driving system. Should it not be able to meet its aims, Apple could delay launch or sell a car that's less technologically advanced. The timeline is aggressive, and Apple is ramping up hiring to meet deadlines.

Article Link: Apple Working Toward Fully Autonomous Car With No Steering Wheel or Pedals, Aiming to Launch in 2025
But the main question to be answered is will it have USB-C port to charge the vehicle to keep all the USB-C fanpeople happy.
 
“The chip's capabilities mean it will run hot and likely require the development of a sophisticated cooling system.”

Lol, of all challenges that arise for Apple when developing a car, who in their right mind would see this as a serious issue that needs highlighting ?
 
Not going to happen. The technology is not NEARLY mature enough for a fully autonomous car in the conventional sense. Maybe something that follows a predetermined route. Maybe.
Agreed mate. Cameras and sensors tracking a road on a map can only be so good. We already know they lead to hideous crashes/deaths as soon as people take their hands off the wheel.
 
But the main question to be answered is will it have USB-C port to charge the vehicle to keep all the USB-C fanpeople happy.
It will but Apple will have gone back to a proprietary charging port on the iPhone so a dongle will be required...:cool:
 
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This is awesome... I'll soon be able to got out drinking all day and not have to worry about those 'speed bumps' I drove over near the playground! ?
 
it's pretty clear that Apple is playing the Market !

The timing of this just-AFTER Rivian ?

Seriously ???

Why isn't CNBC mentioning the timing of this ?

Did Munster say anything ? He was just one ... NOPE !

It's 1999 ALL over again !
 
While 2025 may seem like an aggressive timeline, you should keep in mind the roads that other companies are paving for Apple, pun fully intended. Consider the number of actual miles and simulation miles that Waymo and Cruise have logged. Consider the inroads they have made with state governments, etc. That image of the Chevy Bolt with no pedals / steering wheel isn't made up.

Yes, those who said how to get to off the beaten track roads, that is a problem. High def maps are needed. As for the software stack crashing, there's redundant compute. And he who said the wintery conditions are a challenge. Very true. Still, IMHO, the real marketplace is delivery/ride share, a ~$7tn TAM. (yes, trillion.) Imagine capturing 1% of that market. Now imagine capturing 10%.

It's happening and is Apple Silicon the means to jump the field? Those NVDIA GPUs in Waymo/cruise are heat monsters.

It's happening...
 
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Sorry to upset anyone but there is no way on Earth that Apple will get this done, whilst i would love it to be true.
The reasons are as follows.
Apple have changed the focus of the project too many times which leads to disaster - like a chef starting out making a pie and then changing their minds to make a soufflé and the to making a quiche and expecting great results over someone who decided to make a pie from the start and keeps focus.
Next we have the fact that if this were any other time then yes, Apple could pull something off here but you all forget about someone called Elon Musk who is an extremely effective executer and disrupter who is able to get things done others say can not be achieved.
Tesla are the unarguable leaders in the EV space and have software that is years ahead of anyone else with FSD that is totally amazing. Whilst not finished is still absolutely mind blowing and independent experts such as Sandy Munro says it is the clear winner - end of!
So Apple with a much smaller fleet and less miles of data collected can not hope to suddenly leapfrog Tesla and at best could possibly maybe get to work in a heavily geofenced area which is like running on rails. It is ok when it knows where it is but take it off the rails and it fails.
This would technically work but do not fool yourself that the will be better than Tesla's approach that enables them to drive anywhere regardless of geofenced or not.
Apple also will need to build the car and that either means doing it themselves which they have no experience at all doing so and will take longer than 2025 to achieve or they get someone else to do so.
So far they are struggling like crazy to find anyone to help them because all car makers need all the batteries, supplies an resources for their own EV efforts which are getting further and further behind the likes of Tesla and soon to be Lucid an Rivian and the Chinese etc.
So that just leaves the likes of Magna who do not have the capacity to give Apple the production numbers they would need to make a profit not to mention that I doubt Foxconn making cars will succeed anytime soon.
So in short Apple left it too late and keep making too many mistakes.
 
I think the odds of realistically producing a car that drives on roads alongside human drivers but has no pedals or steering wheel is approximately zero, at least in the "near to moderately-near future". I'm a big fan of aggressive innovation, but this is just not realistic in the world today.

I think they could probably produce something that works in "closed environments" like within a park or a campus, but a vehicle with no emergency human-override option on open roads is a non-starter. Let's not smoke too much dope here.

Everything in modern cars is electronically controlled... You don't need a physical steering wheel or physical pedals. They are there because it is what we are used to to. However, something could be used in their place for "manual" control or override. Apple may just be rethinking how we actually control cars - what is needed and what is no longer necessary. Especially since I don't think Apple is going to produce a car that can be purchased... instead they're working on vehicles for a ride sharing service.
 
Apple lawyers have four years to finish the terms and conditions which we'll all read thoroughly before purchasing.
 
By 2025 I can not see a fully functional car with no steering wheel or pedals. Imagine the headache it would be to perform simple tasks that aren’t perfectly layed out in apples system.

Sure it would do well on highways but I can think of a lot of situations it wouldn’t work to well
 


Apple is picking up its work on an Apple-designed car and is aiming to create a fully autonomous vehicle, reports Bloomberg. Apple is "refocusing" the project around full self-driving vehicles, a goal that other car manufacturers have not been able to achieve.

Apple-car-wheel-icon-feature-yellow.jpg

Work on an Apple Car began way back in 2014, and since then, the project has gone through multiple transformations. At one point, rumors suggested Apple had abandoned its plans for a full vehicle and would instead focus on software, but rumors began picking up again in 2020. It's now been made clear that Apple intends to launch its own vehicle.

As Bloomberg explains, Apple worked on two vehicle paths, one with limited self-driving capabilities and a second with full self-driving functionality that does not require human intervention, and the company will now pursue this second path under the leadership of Kevin Lynch, who joined the project earlier this year. Apple has hit a "milestone" in developing the self-driving car system, and has finished the core work on the chip that will power the first car.

Apple wants to design a car that lacks a steering wheel or pedals, and with an interior that's aimed at hands-off driving. Bloomberg said that Apple has considered a design similar to the Lifestyle Vehicle from Canoo, in which passengers sit along the sides of the vehicle, facing one another.

Apple is still discussing the inclusion of a steering wheel, which may be required so people can take over in an emergency situation An iPad-like tablet could be in the middle of the vehicle, which passengers would be able to interact with.

Apple wants its car to be safer than those manufactured by Waymo and Tesla, with redundancies and failsafes to avoid failures. The vehicle will be electric, with Apple discussing charging that's compatible with the combined charging system so Apple vehicle owners can use a global network of chargers.

Using Lexus SUVs outfitted with LiDAR scanners and other equipment, Apple has been testing its self-driving system. Bloomberg says that Apple will test the new processor that it has developed in those cars, along with new self-driving sensors.

Apple is said to be aiming to launch its self-driving car in four years, which would put a debut right around 2025. Whether Apple will be able to hit that goal will depend on whether Apple can develop a full self-driving system. Should it not be able to meet its aims, Apple could delay launch or sell a car that's less technologically advanced. The timeline is aggressive, and Apple is ramping up hiring to meet deadlines.

Article Link: Apple Working Toward Fully Autonomous Car With No Steering Wheel or Pedals, Aiming to Launch in 2025
If they do it in space grey and the notch doesn’t obscure my view, I’m in.
 
I love Apple but they do not have the technology whatsoever!
Any form of FSD takes masses and makes of data which only Tesla has and Apple does not.

How do you know what technology Apple has? The millions of miles they've driven for their Maps, could've been used for training an autonomous system for all we know.
 
There is no way on God’s green Earth that I am ever going to drive, much less own a car with no steering wheel and no pedals. Even Apple isn’t that good. Hard pass.
The only vehicle I’ll ride in where I can’t access a steering wheel or pedals if needed is a bus, train, or plane controlled by others.
 
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