In 2014, Apple started up a secret project called Project Titan, which we later discovered was their new electric car project that would be the first ever self-driving vehicle with no steering wheel and no pedals. Now almost 10 years later, it looks like there has finally been an update in the process of the first-ever Apple Car, and it's not what you'd expect.
So let’s take a look at what has been announced about the new Apple Car. We will dive into detail about the original concept, current design ideas and when we could see this product dominating our streets. We are here to uncover it all in Apple Car: What To Expect.
(Please note: Almost all information in this blog is based on current rumours and past information released by Apple, a lot of this information is speculation and could be subject to change)
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What happened to the Apple Car project?
So before we get into the 2024 news of the Apple Car, let’s go back in time and check out the development of the concept from the last 10 years.
Development has been in progress for the previous decade, and often Project Titan would slow down, change hands and be given new brand vision ideas. It was rumoured that in 2016 the project was completely scrapped but talks of it being back on again circled in 2020 and now in 2024 it has been rumoured that the vehicle may be available from 2028 earliest.
In the early 2020’s, it was confirmed that the car would no longer be a completely self-driving vehicle because this proved to be too dangerous and would take a lot longer to manufacture. Therefore surpassing the 2028 release goal. More information will be revealed about this later on in the blog…
It is believed the car will be similar to Tesla, a smart, electric car with some self-control aspects, but predominantly will be controlled by the driver.
Apple car original design:
Originally, the design idea was that all passenger seats would be facing each other, so conversation and meetings could continue and run a lot smoother, and the roof was planned to be curved to make the car appear larger. Apple wanted the car to work similar to an Uber or taxi, in an uber you don’t have to drive, and Apple wanted to incorporate this completely in the Apple Car by including no steering wheel or foot pedals. The car was going to be fully controlled by Apple AI and the passenger would have to do no driving.
Besides all these big promises, the ideas were eventually scrapped. Apple decided they wanted the car to follow the classic, standard design of a normal car and thought it would be unsafe to have a car driving around that was uncontrollable which is understandable. When it comes to the interior design concept being scrapped, we assume this was done so the car could be targeted to families as well, helping to increase the target audience.
Moving away from the interior design, it was believed a high-end processor was created for the vehicle, an advanced component with 4x the power of 4 Mac chips. No further information has been released on this. Finally, there were talks of big companies like Hyundai electric cars working alongside Apple considering they do not know about making and marketing cars, but this plan is also unconfirmed.
Does Apple have a prototype car?
Now in 2024, Apple is still looking to create some limo-like interior aspects inside the car like 7-seater electric cars, however, are now focussing on including a driver’s seat, steering wheel, and pedals. An Apple car screen like an iPad will run along the middle of the vehicle which users can interact with to turn music off and on, control volume, manage the heating control the air conditioning plus much more.
The Apple Car will provide steering, brake, and acceleration support whilst the driver controls the car and when it comes to charging the electric car, a smart car battery charger has been developed which will help reduce costs which has been described by Apple as a ‘next-level battery pack’.
What will be the cost of Apple car?
As you may have guessed, there is no confirmed price range for the Apple Car just set. Apple have announced however that the price will be under 100,000 and we can assume it won’t be the cheapest electric car. But nothing has been set in stone yet.
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Apples messy Apple Car production timeline:
- 2014 - Began production
- 2014 - Production is given name 'Project Titan'
- 2016 - Leadership change in the Apple Car management
- 2016 – Production rumoured to be scrapped
- 2018 – Talks of car releasing in 2023 although production had stopped
- 2020 – Production continued
- 2020 - Rumoured to release 2024
- 2021 – Reports of release date being announced in 2022
- 2022 – Rumours release date will be 2025
- 2028 – Current rumoured release date
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So what’s your thoughts? Could we now start seeing smart tech cars running our streets? Will Samsung do the same? And will Apple begin to roll out other versions of the vehicle like a mini Apple car?
We understand it will be a while until we see the Apple Car up and running, and we will certainly be here to provide all updates on this vehicle when they are announced. Make sure to check out our blog pages and socials to see our updates on the new Apple Car. We can’t wait to see how this tech evolves.