It may be the longest-lived rumor of all that there is, even longer than that of the Reality Pro. We’ve been talking about the possibility of having an Apple car for yearsand the project has gone through a thousand and one obstacles between cancellations, changes of course, layoffs and movements of those responsible.
Now that we are apparently close to seeing the presentation of a mixed reality viewer, it is a good time to sift through all the data and summarize what we know with a minimum of reliability about this ‘Apple Car’.
What design will the ‘Apple Car’ have?
It remains to be confirmed what type of car the Apple Car will be. A sedan, a utility vehicle, a minivan, something bigger designed for semi-public transport… so it is difficult to guess what type of design the car will have . There are those who dare to say that it is more likely to be an SUV, adjusted to what is currently in demand in the United States.
We can bet that it will be something very identifiable, for its simplicity, so that the car stands out well on the streets. It is usually the strategy that is liked in the offices of Cupertino.
What we have clear at the moment is that the designer is going to be Luigi Taraborrelli, in charge of the design of Lamborghini for two decades. That already tells us that this design is not going to be of poor quality. And some patents give us details of the exterior, such as the possibility of having an adjustable transparency sunroof.
What features will the Apple car have?
First of all, the ‘Apple Car’ it will be an electric car. Apple does not want to hear about combustion, and alternatives such as hydrogen are not being seen on the roads for Cupertino to consider it. The differential point would be the battery, which would be a single cell to maximize the autonomy of the vehicle.
Knowing this, it will depend on the type of car that we see to know if its autonomy will be worth it, or the speed at which it can reach. Personally I bet that in Apple they are not going to look for the fastest car, but the one that can travel the longest without having to recharge.
Beyond the engine or autonomy, a large part of these benefits will be linked to the sensors and the software. There will be cameras and LiDAR sensors to detect obstacles, and there will be a level of autonomous driving that should surprise us. Of course, our iPhone and Apple Watch will be highly integrated: I wouldn’t be surprised if the door opened by bringing our wrist closer to the latch.
Locating the location where we have parked it, detection of theft attempts, its own application… it will be the most attractive part of the car since finally, a technology company will launch its vision of what electric vehicles should be like. “Hey Siri, take me to work.”
What will the Apple car be called?
We know that Apple has baptized his car as ‘Project Titan’ internally, but there are no clues about the final name. Anyway we have the obvious bets:
- iCar
- Apple Car
- Apple Car +, if the car ends up being sold as a service
It will also depend on whether various ranges and models of the Apple electric vehicle are sold. I find it somewhat funny, but it would not be unreasonable to see something like an ‘Apple Car’ and an ‘Apple Car Plus’, or ‘Pro’, or ‘Max’, or ‘Ultra’. Everything is to wait for more rumors and what Kevin Lynch ends up saying as the person in charge of the project.
What will the interior of the ‘Apple Car’ be like?
Again: it depends. If we are talking about a private car, there shouldn’t be too much difference to what a normal car is. If we are talking about something designed to be semi-public transportation, we could see a large car with some seats on its sides, distributed as a mini-living room.
Where there are more bets is on the screens. The ‘Apple Car’ will be full of screens. And that clue is given to us by Apple itself with its vision of what CarPlay 2 will be, which you can see in the image above. We should see the first cars with these kinds of big screens by the end of the year, and the Apple Car should be an evolution of that.
How much will the ‘Apple Car’ cost and when will it be released?
The price is one of the biggest unknowns of the Apple vehicle. Not just because we had to guess a number, but because we might not even be able to buy it. The Apple Car could perfectly well be a subscription, or an urban mobility service that is linked to the taxes of a city or region. It all depends on the model that Apple advocates for your vehicle.
About when we can see an Apple car presented, there have been a multitude of dates and estimates. The most recent clues come from Mark Gurman and talk about 2026 as the year we could possibly have the keynote in which an ‘Apple Car’ is presented. In any case, think that we are talking about a project that is still far away and that this date may well change.
Image | Israel Fernandez with Midjourney, Alessio Lin
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