New twist in the development of the Apple Car. Its arrival on the market is further delayed and its technological ambitions revised downwards, several sources close to Project Titan told Bloomberg on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
Autonomy reduced
According to information from our colleagues, Apple’s self-driving car project is once again in limbo. The Californian firm has wanted for ten years to launch its own 100% autonomous car, but is falling behind. Recently, Apple would have decided to revise its ambitions downwards, excluding developing an automobile without pedals or steering wheels. The fault is the lack of maturity of the technologies currently available on the market.
The Apple Car should therefore not reach level 5 of autonomy, a technological barrier that no manufacturer has yet crossed. Even if it does not meet initial expectations, the car could be equipped with automation pushed to the extreme. This allows the driver to perform other tasks while driving on the highway. We mention in particular the possibility of playing a video game or watching a film. The vehicle would alert its user when getting back behind the wheel (approaching a town, crossroads, bad weather, etc.). This approach would be the biggest evolution since the beginning of the project.
The Apple Car should not be marketed to the general public before 2026. A margin that leaves engineers another four years to develop the car.
An Apple Car for less than $100,000?
In order to drive autonomously, the car would be equipped with an on-board computer system called Denali. The computer would be equipped with a fearsomely powerful chip, ready for production according to Bloomberg sources. Using such a system is similar to Tesla’s approach. The Apple Car would be differentiated by the use of LiDAR sensors, radars and cameras to ensure autonomous driving in complete safety. For their part, the models produced by Tesla are mainly based on cameras, a technology fully mastered by Elon Musk’s company.
The Apple Car system should communicate with Amazon Web Services servers for artificial intelligence processing of certain vehicle data. A process still little detailed in its operation by the sources of the Titan Project. Vehicles could be serviced remotely by a command center in the event of an emergency. Apple would also consider offering its own insurance service.
To afford this little gem of technology on wheels, motorists will have to spend just under $100,000, a drop of $20,000 from the price initially mentioned. Regarding the design, the Cupertino company wants a first prototype in 2024, with tests to be carried out in real conditions in 2025.
The apple multinational would like to bring together all the teams scattered around the globe in its future Orchard Parkway campus, near the San José airport in Silicon Valley. A return to basics, in short.