It’s perhaps the longest-lived rumor of all, even longer than the reality pro’s. We’ve talked about the possibility of having an Apple car for yearsand the project has cleared a thousand and one hurdles between cancellations, course changes, layoffs and changes in responsibility.
Now that we seem to be on the verge of unveiling a mixed reality viewer, it’s a good time to pull together all the data and summarize what we know about this “Apple Car” with a modicum of confidence.
What design will the “Apple Car” have?
What kind of car the Apple Car will be has yet to be confirmed: a sedan, a utility vehicle, a minivan, something larger designed for semi-public transport… so it’s hard to guess what kind of design the car will be will have . There are those who dare to say that it is more of an SUV adapted to current demand in the United States.
We bet it will be something very identifiable, for its simplicity, to make the car stand out on the road. It’s usually the strategy popular in the Cupertino offices.
At the moment it is clear that the designer will be Luigi Taraborrelli, who was responsible for the design of Lamborghini for two decades. This already tells us that this design will not be of poor quality. And some patents give us details about the exterior, such as the possibility of having an adjustable transparent sunroof.
What features will the Apple car have?
Above all the “Apple Car” It will be an electric car. Apple doesn’t want to hear about combustion, and alternatives like hydrogen aren’t on the streets for Cupertino to consider. The point of differentiation would be the battery, which would be a single cell to maximize the autonomy of the vehicle.
Knowing this, it depends on the type of car that we see to know if its autonomy is worth it or how fast it can reach. Personally, I bet they won’t be looking for the fastest car at Apple, but rather the one that can go the longest without having to charge.
Beyond the engine or the autonomy, a large part of these advantages will be linked to the sensors and the software. There will be cameras and LiDAR sensors to detect obstacles, and there will be levels of autonomous driving that should surprise us. Naturally, our iPhone and our Apple Watch will be highly integrated: I wouldn’t be surprised if the door opened by bringing our wrist closer to the latch.
The location where we parked it, the theft attempt detection, its own application… it will be the most attractive part of the car as finally a tech company will present its vision of what electric vehicles should look like. “Hey Siri, take me to work.”
What will the Apple car be called?
We know that Apple internally dubbed its car “Project Titan,” but there’s no clue as to the final name. Anyway, we have the obvious bets:
- i car
- Apple car
- Apple Car+ if the car is sold as a service
It will also depend on whether different ranges and models of the Apple electric vehicle will be sold. I find it a bit funny, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see something like an “Apple Car” and an “Apple Car Plus” or “Pro” or “Max” or “Ultra”. Everything will have to wait for more rumors and what Kevin Lynch says as the person in charge of the project.
What will the interior of the “Apple Car” look like?
Again: it depends. When we talk about a private car, there shouldn’t be too much difference compared to a regular car. If we are talking about something designed as a semi-public transport, we could see a big car with some seats on the sides, distributed as a mini living room.
Where there is more betting is on the screens. The ‘Apple Car’ will be full of screens. And this indication is given to us by Apple itself with its vision of CarPlay 2 that you can see in the image above. We should see the first cars with such 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 appear?
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 well be a subscription or urban mobility service tied to a city or region’s taxes. It all depends on the model that Apple endorses for your vehicle.
When we can see a featured Apple car, there have been a variety of dates and estimates. The latest hints are from Mark Gurman, pointing to 2026 as the year we could possibly have that principle in which an ‘Apple Car’ is presented. In any case, keep in mind that we are talking about a project that is still a long way off and that date may well change.
image | Israel Fernandez with Midjourney, Alessio Lin
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Source : www.applesfera.com