by Apple downsized its Apple Car project, and the company no longer plans to launch a fully self-driving vehicle. Bloomberg.
Apple wanted to create a self-driving car without a steering wheel or pedals, but decided that such a plan was not currently possible. The vehicle will have guided driving features that work on highways, but will not always be completely self-sufficient.
The car will feature a custom processor designed by Apple to support AI functionality similar to the Mac, iPhone and iPad. The chip is equivalent to four of the top-end Mac chips and is nearly production-ready. It will include a special array of lidar sensors, radar sensors and cameras that can provide the car with positioning information, lane data, and guidance based on people and objects.
Apple will use the cloud for some AI processing, and the company is considering a remote control center that can assist drivers and control cars remotely during emergencies. It can also offer companies its own insurance program. Apple’s downsized vehicle will have steering wheels and pedals like a regular vehicle. It will allow customers to do things like watch movies or multitask on highways. The car will warn when it’s time to switch to manual controls for city streets or in bad weather, and the self-driving component will perhaps be limited to North America at launch.
The “Apple Car” project has undergone several changes in development since Apple launched it in 2014. Apple initially planned for a full vehicle, then in 2016 rumors speculated that plans for a car were shelved and that Apple would instead develop some sort of autonomous vehicle. Driving system for other vehicles.
By 2020, plans for a full vehicle with autonomous driving capabilities were reintroduced, with Apple testing its self-driving technology in SUVs in the San Francisco Bay Area, but it seems that when fully autonomous driving features were first introduced, Apple will not be ready. Car launches.
The Apple Car team has also gone through a few leadership changes, with John Giannandrea, head of artificial intelligence and machine learning currently leading the Apple Car project, and Kevin Lynch, known for his work on the Apple Watch, oversees the work on the car.
While rumors suggest the car could launch in 2025, it’s expected to hit the market as early as 2026, with Apple aiming to sell a consumer model for under $100,000.
