Kuo: Apple Car Still in Early Stages, Unlikely to Launch Until 2025-2027 at Earliest

[imnotthewalrus]

Autonomous vehicles will ultimately be far safer than human-controlled cars.

I'm glad you included "ultimately" in your statement. As I approach the age of 64, I feel quite confident that the "ultimately" will not happen in my remaining years.

 

[profets]

In general it’ll be interesting to see what Apple does.

Can’t quite wrap my head around them actually producing a car. The manufacturing, logistics, sales / store network. Of course these are things they excel at, but with a product like a car as opposed to small electronics it feels so foreign.

 

[-BigMac-]

So much for it being ahead of schedule ready for 2023 or whatever was reported last week.

Seems like these rumors mostly have no real value until maybe the week of..

 

[NotTooLate]

I own a Tesla, and no you don't.

both of you are right , future is autonomous but currently with current rules we are not there yet , no one is saying "i wont get on a plane if it autopilots" , because they are autopiloted for years , pilots are there as fail safe and landing/taking off (or maybe thats also auto pilot now days , not sure).

my 7 y/o kid wont be driving his car , and he will feel great about letting the car drive for him.

 

[rp2011]

If Apple can generate more profit from tiny little white plastic earphones with no moving parts that can be shipped in tiny little boxes than Tesla can from selling an entire car and all the infrastructure and headaches that go with it, the question is WHY?
I mean it would certainly be “cool” and a nice vanity project for Apple, but it seems all it would do is be a money pit distraction.

 

[Apple_Robert]

This article confirms what many of us expected was the case, compared the other sketchy sourced article.

Common sense prevails.

 

[maerz001]

It took apple 4 years to bring the Airpod Max to market. So don’t expect anything less than 40 years and price of $549.000 for their car😉

 

[nezr]

steering wheel is extra

 

[cmaier]

In general it’ll be interesting to see what Apple does.

Can’t quite wrap my head around them actually producing a car. The manufacturing, logistics, sales / store network. Of course these are things they excel at, but with a product like a car as opposed to small electronics it feels so foreign.

I think they have the perfect infrastructure for all of that. What’s missing is service. It’s not like we’re going to drop our Apple Car’s off at the Genius Bar for a tire rotation. It took Tesla many years to ramp up their service locations, and even now they are woefully understaffed. In 2013 when I needed service, Tesla was willing to come get my car that same day and drop off a loaner. Now it takes two weeks just to get a drive in appointment for anything that doesn’t render the car undriveable, and they give you an Uber code even if they can’t fix your car the same day. It took more than 2 weeks just to get my 12V battery replaced a few months ago.

Apple’s got a lot of money, but the logistics of setting up service locations all around each country where the car is sold will take time.

 

[coachgq]

Hopefully wheels are included

But they make the coolest wheel adapters

 

[cmaier]

If Apple can generate more profit from tiny little white plastic earphones with no moving parts that can be shipped in tiny little boxes than Tesla can from selling an entire car and all the infrastructure and headaches that go with it, the question is WHY?
I mean it would certainly be “cool” and a nice vanity project for Apple, but it seems all it would do is be a money pit distraction.

Ecosystem and services. Tesla doesn’t support CarPlay. People in self driving cars will have a lot of time to consume digital services. Apple Car will play best with iphone, ipad, etc. Apple won’t do it if they can’t make money with it.

 

[jz0309]

this is the mot realistic timeframe yet, IF, Apple is really working on a car ...automotive industry is 100+ years old, very little margin so I'm struggling seeing why apple would want to enter. Consumer expectations of vehicles, ICE or EV, autonomous or not, are not really going to change any time soon, you need a service network and everything else ...

 

[ericwn]

steering wheel is extra

And you’ll likely be holding it wrong.

 

[akac]

I own a Tesla, and no you don't.

I own one as well and have a fair amount of experience in the underlying tech…and frankly you will. I use NoA all the time and the car drove itself for 95% of a road trip I did this year. It was amazing how much less stress it was. I also use NoA for my work commute.

And I love to DRIVE. I just don’t want to bother commuting.

Looking at the FSD Beta videos and the progress they’ve made from Beta 1 to Beta 8 - its a massive leap forward from what we have in “production” on our cars today.

Self-driving cars will become the norm in our lifetime. We will be able to enjoy driving our cars when we want to, and let the car do its thing for menial tasks.

 

[jz0309]

Ecosystem and services. Tesla doesn’t support CarPlay. People in self driving cars will have a lot of time to consume digital services. Apple Car will play best with iphone, ipad, etc. Apple won’t do it if they can’t make money with it.

exactly this, and 10% margin is not going to cut it for them, and I cannot see that consumers will be willing to pay premium for a car that they know has 30+% margin - of course the Bentleys, Ferraris etc have a premium but not the Fords, Toyotas, VWs ...

 

[Spock]

I just can’t see this happening. There is so much overhead like leasing agreements, maintenance space, not to mention all the states that do not allow direct vehicle sales from the manufacturers. And who will build the thing, Foxcon? I think it would be better for Apple to partner with auto manufacturers for the technology.

 

[innovationwho]

A lot of you think it’s HILARIOUS to say that wheels won’t come with the car, or chargers won’t be included, etc. It’s actually not funny. Horrible comedy. Also, when was Apple ever known to be cheap? Never. I’m astonished at how many people want to continue to drag Apple. It’s not like they are forcing you to spend money. This is about Apple creating a potentially world changing vehicle. Tesla did it for the time, but seems they have peaked. Just imagine the possibilities Apple wouldn’t be afraid of putting in a vehicle. Meanwhile you all are okay with buying mass produced, boring, plastic vehicles.

 

[NotTooLate]

We just don’t know the full story, what tech Apple has in the works etc. They hired a good bunch of Tesla employees, so let’s assume they have a game plan even without having to make a costly investment.

The one thing about tech , that alot of the markets are "winner takes all" , today mind share is "EV car == Tesla" , also like a lot of things in engineering you get things right due to iterations on a product , the more you delay the first iteration the harder it is to start getting market share and expand on your product from user feedback , so you are basically doing catchup in your labs/ R&D , while it will be better to do it in the market it self with real customers providing feedback , 2028 sounds late , we will have a mature EV/Autonomous market by then , with "Google cars" systems (which they will give away for free from the SW POV) being ran on most non Tesla cars.

 

[quietstormSD]

I remember when Apple had iTunes in other phones then came out with the iPhone years later. This may be Apple having CarPlay in other cars then coming out with the iCar.

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

Nice to see a little dose of reality. A lot of people here seem to think Apple is for sure launching a car based on some unconfirmed reports, and that they are going to blow away the competition. Of course, by 2024 or 2028 or whenever, Tesla, Waymo, etc will be even more ahead. I don’t think Apple should even go into the high-regulation, capital-intense, low-margin automotive industry, but if they do they have no guarantee of being more than a bit player in the luxury segment- which would not justify billions of investment. Although it is interesting that Kuo is saying 2028- wasn’t he predicting 2023 or 24 a few years ago? It just shows that no one knows what they’re talking about. Heck, at this point I doubt Apple knows where they are headed with this.

 

[cmaier]

I just can’t see this happening. There is so much overhead like leasing agreements, maintenance space, not to mention all the states that do not allow direct vehicle sales from the manufacturers. And who will build the thing, Foxcon? I think it would be better for Apple to partner with auto manufacturers for the technology.

There are many contract auto manufacturers, which have been used even by companies like Porsche, Mercedes, etc. They’ll have no problem getting them made should they choose not to own their own factories.

 

[cmaier]

I just can’t see this happening. There is so much overhead like leasing agreements, maintenance space, not to mention all the states that do not allow direct vehicle sales from the manufacturers. And who will build the thing, Foxcon? I think it would be better for Apple to partner with auto manufacturers for the technology.

I don’t see problems with some of that. Leasing agreements? Not sure what Tesla does now, but at first they had NO leases, then they did a deal with a couple of banks. Apple certainly already has financial industry experience with wallet, Apple Pay, their own credit card, etc. Leasing and financing will be pretty easy for them.

Direct sales? Again, same as Tesla. Buy the apple car from your computer, iphone, ipad, etc., on the web, using the Apple Store app, or some new app for that purpose. Visit a show room to see the car and take a pre-scheduled test drive. Salesman can help you buy the car yourself using a handy iMac sitting in the showroom.

Building: many choices. Even old car companies use contract manufacturers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Contract_vehicle_manufacturers

Service is the big question mark.

 

[darngooddesign]

It doesn’t include the wheels. Wheels cost extra. https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MX572ZM/A/apple-mac-pro-wheels-kit

Original jokes are always the best. *thumbs up*

 

[jz0309]

I just can’t see this happening. There is so much overhead like leasing agreements, maintenance space, not to mention all the states that do not allow direct vehicle sales from the manufacturers. And who will build the thing, Foxcon? I think it would be better for Apple to partner with auto manufacturers for the technology.

100% agree ... and the only major automotive OEM is Magna Steyr today, small volume Mercedes and others ...

 

[Realityck]

As someone who owns a Tesla... yes, you will. You would be very surprised how very comfortable you get when you become accustomed to the autonomous capability of your car.

The Biden Administration Needs to Do Something About Tesla - Slate 12/1/2020

A good place to start would be helping consumers understand what automotive tech can and cannot do. Today’s “advanced driving-assistance systems” include functionality like lane-keep assistance (keeping a car between the lines on the road) and automatic emergency braking that reduces the need for driver engagement in certain road conditions. Often seen as a step toward fully autonomous vehicles, ADAS nevertheless requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road and be ready to turn the steering wheel or apply the brakes if a problem arises.

That kind of vigilance doesn’t jibe with a term like “Autopilot,” which suggests a vehicle that can operate independently. Indeed, European regulators bluntly concluded that “Tesla’s system name Autopilot is inappropriate as it suggests full automation.” Musk disagrees; he recently called the idea of changing it “idiotic.” As misleading as “Autopilot” may be, the term “Full Self-Driving” seems even worse. “The real name should be anything but that,” said Duke engineering professor Missy Cummings, who has studied autonomous technologies extensively.