The Apple Car has been a mirage on the automotive industry horizon for about 10 years. Rumors have swirled ever since the consumer electronic giant's Project Titan leaked, leading aspiring designers and creative types around the world to speculate as to just what Apple had cooking under the hood. My personal favorite thus far came from Vanarama, a car leasing operation in the U.K. that used existing Apple patents to come up with a futuristic design.
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Well, it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for Apple to pull into the auto game. In late 2022, the Apple car's launch date was pushed back to 2026 and the company cut Level 5, full self-driving. A new report from Bloomberg suggests that Apple is delaying the car's launch another two years, to 2028, and scaling its self-driving down to Level 2+ autonomy. With Level 5 autonomy, the car, in theory, can drive itself everywhere in all conditions. In Level 2, the car offers some steering and brake/acceleration support, like keeping you in the lane and adaptive cruise control. Is it possible that, by limiting features and bringing them more in line with the current EV landscape, we might finally see an Apple car drive off the production line? Maybe?
According to people close to the project who spoke with Bloomberg, the 2028 mark is the earliest we might see a car.
The project has seen a bit of turnover and leadership changes over the years, and this could be a make-or-break moment, especially if the car will debut with tech already available from multiple EV makers. Remember, this is a concept that once ditched the steering wheels and pedals—the future of driving as we know it. The company has sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into the car, and after all that work, Apple might fall back on some of its old marketing tricks. It doesn't necessarily have to be the best; it just needs to be the coolest.
