Ondrej Holzman For many months and years there was talk about the Apple watch. But as soon as Tim Cook really introduced them, they started looking for another topic. This time they are talking about a really big product - Apple is allegedly developing an electric car in a secluded, strictly guarded laboratory.
It's no secret that Apple develops and designs hundreds of products inside its labs that ultimately never make it to market. On a project codenamed Titan, how informed The Wall Street Journal, however, is deployed on thousands of specialists, so it cannot be just about some ulterior motive.
The start of the project, which may or may not end up being an electric vehicle with the Apple logo, should have been given the go-ahead almost a year ago by the company's chief executive, Tim Cook. The secret lab outside Apple's Cupertino campus, led by Steve Zadesky, was expected to be fully operational by the end of the year, shortly after the launch of the Watch, informed citing his sources as well Financial Times.
A giant team began to deal with cars
Zadesky did not get to the secret and at the same time very ambitious project by chance. He has been working at Apple for 16 years, he was the head of the teams developing the first iPod and iPhone, and at the same time he has experience in the automotive industry - he worked as an engineer at Ford. Tim Cook reportedly had Zadesky assemble a team of hundreds of people who were recruited to him from various positions.
At the moment, the laboratory, located a few kilometers from the headquarters of the Californian company, should be conducting research on various robotic technologies, metals and other materials that are related to the production of cars. It is not yet clear where Apple's efforts will lead, but the result may not necessarily be a complete "apple wagon".
Components such as batteries or on-board electronics could also be used separately by Apple, either in other products or as further development for its CarPlay initiative. It was Apple's biggest step towards cars so far, when Tim Cook plans to dominate the on-board computers of our vehicles in the coming years with his solution.
The head of Apple does not hide that cars are one of the sectors where Apple has a significant space to promote its products. CarPlay, along with HealthKit and HomeKit, were even described by Goldman Sachs as "the keys to our future" at a recent technology conference. This is also why the new car development group is not necessarily tasked with developing the entire car. For example, Apple can only test various components in its own laboratories in order to develop the CarPlay platform as efficiently as possible.
It's about more than CarPlay
According to sources Reuters but only with CarPlay won't stay. Apple plans to go much further than just connecting its mobile devices to cars' on-board computers, and its engineers are already collecting information on how they could create a driverless electric vehicle. This theory would be supported by the aforementioned large team, whose representatives are said to regularly fly, for example, to Austria, where they meet people from the Magna Steyr car company.
In addition to Zadesky, many other people in the newly created unit are expected to have experience with cars. For example, Johann Jungwirth, the former president and executive director of research and development of the North American branch of Mercedes-Benz, whom Apple hired at the end of last year, is a significant reinforcement. Others are supposed to have experience from European car companies.
In addition, Apple's highest-ranking managers are also connected to cars. Chief designer Jony Ive and another important designer Marc Newson, who came to Apple last year, are enthusiasts for fast bikes. He even created a concept car for Ford in 1999. Internet services chief Eddy Cue, in turn, sits on Ferrari's board of directors.
The development of a car, no matter what kind of product is created in the end, could be another challenge for the most valuable company in the world after the iPod, iPhone or iPad, how to change the established order, even if Apple moves in a diametrically different environment than when developing mobile devices and computers. Just the exciting possibilities that Apple has with its resources, but according to the information WSJ convinced many employees not to leave the company.
Google, Apple's big rival, has been working on the development of self-driving cars for several years and would like to introduce a self-driving car in the coming years in alliance with established automakers. Not pilotless, but battery-powered electric cars have been shown for several years by Tesla Motors, which is miles ahead of the rest of the industry.
The cars of the future are a tempting but expensive business
Some talk about the fact that Apple wants to build self-driving cars, while others say that they are planning to develop an electric car. But one thing would be the same in both cases: producing cars is a hugely expensive business. It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to design the vehicle itself, as well as the tools and factories to manufacture it and, last but not least, the necessary certifications.
Drawing a prototype car is one thing, but there is a giant leap between a prototype on paper and its actual production. Apple currently does not have any manufacturing plants for even its current devices, let alone cars. A single factory would cost several billion dollars, and a huge supply chain would have to be created for the more than 10 components that make up cars.
It is the enormous expenses that are an insurmountable obstacle for many who would like to produce electric cars or other vehicles, but for Apple, with its almost 180 billion dollars in the account, it might not be a problem. However, the already mentioned Tesla represents an obvious example of how costly this activity is.
This year, CEO Elon Musk expects to spend $1,5 billion on capital expenditures, research and development alone. Musk does not hide that producing his electric cars is really complicated, and despite significant investments in the order of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, Tesla can only produce a few tens of thousands of cars a year. In addition, it is still in the red and it is not clear how long it will take to make a profit on the production of luxury cars.
As well as the financial demands, it is also certain that if Apple really has its own electric car planned, we won't see it until a few years from now. These would take both development, production and also obtaining all safety approvals. However, it is not excluded that Apple is not developing a car as such, but just wants to focus more on controlling on-board computers and other electronics in cars, which the CarPlay platform is supposed to help with.
Another article in the "absolutely nothing" series.
Apple will buy Tesla and everything will be done :)
That probably only makes sense, otherwise Apple has no chance. It is one thing to design a phone and another to design a car.
That's something else, and that's exactly why apple hired experts from the field. I think that Apple's car wants to go a different way than Tesla. Tesla looks like a classic car and works that way. The car from Apple will simply be different, better. It will be a similar revolution as when the iPhone appeared. The video of the concept from Mercedes describes it best. The author of this concept is one of those hired by Apple. It all makes sense and I think we have a lot to look forward to.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
you speak of fandom, more than a sense of reality. Remember in 5 years, this product of yours.
fandom? I only analyze information from foreign websites and put together 1+1. Let's be surprised and see. Realize how much money and people Apple has at its disposal...
After 8 years, Apple can't fine-tune a box the size of a phone and spoils previously functional HW or SW things - how on earth can you believe they could fine-tune a car??? It's not about how many people or billions they have - it's about what they don't have! What they don't have is a Jobs-type visionary and the ability to invest money - they don't have either - that's why they haven't had a product for 3 years and that's why they have even more to respect....
You're just a fan = part of their marketing - they should send you a dollar :-)
There's no point in arguing with someone who doesn't even have a basic knowledge of Apple. Maybe a green bin blog will suit you better.
The discussion is about arguments, you do not present them and resort to personal invective. You are obviously an iTroll.
Tesla also started from scratch and look where they are today. Their cars are not bad at all.
For now, Tesla is riding the wave of "trends and fandom". It is still a long way from real mass production. It's still more of a project than production. In addition, the year 2014 was in revenue with a decreasing trend compared to 2013. The fact that it has 10.000 employees is rather a burden with a turnover of 294 million USD. It cannot be done without a strong mass project and an investor.
Zero. If we are talking about the car industry. And he has money abroad and doesn't want to use it because of taxes and has to borrow for the dividend. You don't follow those sites very carefully.
Zero what?
Zero number of people with experience in the development and production of vehicles (serial), as well as zero free finance for the multi-hundred billion cash for the necessary investments - see above.
Who are Steve Zadesky (Ford), Johann Jungwirth (Mercedes) and hundreds of other people that Apple hired for this project?
Apple has not officially confirmed any such program, but you claim to have hired hundreds of people :-D :-D :-D
Distinguish between wishful thinking and reality.
so the very idea of tesla - trading with emission vouchers - can be tempting for some..
Exactly - physical cars are super marketing...
I think it's more about car play, even if it wouldn't fit well with Apple (its own software and hardware), but car production, I don't know, I don't know...
So I have to admit that I really don't see here. I don't like the idea of a car driving itself and me just sitting and smelling my cell phone. I practically have it already. The means of transport is called a train. I sit down and drive. Probably all the people I know drive like that because they enjoy it. Who doesn't care, just take that train. Unless it could be ordered in the future. There will simply be cars that drive themselves. Either way, it will lead to further degeneration of people. Put a map in most people's hands and they won't even go to the next village. The navigation totally blew people away. You used to sit in a hundred and twenty, map in hand and go anywhereLiv Today, navigation will take you to the river, no one is surprised. I guess I'm too old for these "conveniences". But of course I'll pass on Apple's success.
However, the train doesn't go everywhere, and the rule about who drives a car just because they enjoy it doesn't really apply, in my opinion. For some people, a car is the only possible means of transport with which you can get somewhere, but that's a topic outside the apple :)
Moreover, this whole topic does not really apply to these days, it is simply a more distant future. However, I agree with Tesla that electric cars are the future, it's just that oil is a limited resource, while solar energy is inexhaustible. And they don't have to deal with questions regarding the real use of self-driving cars, I don't think we'll live to see that :)
The future is slowly but surely coming and, strangely enough, it's always to your detriment :)
only that solar technology would have to be on a completely different level than it is today. electric cars are just big halos. no one has ever done any research on emissions between electric cars and gasoline/diesel/gas.
and if someone here starts to argue to me that an electric car does not burden the environment at all, then he is a complete fool. 2/3 of the world's electricity today comes from coal, which is burned in the same way as gasoline or diesel and puts the same burden on the environment. therefore, I would be interested in how much coal was burned to fully charge the electric cell and then compare it with a classic diesel or spark-ignition engine.
of course, once the world gets out of 90% energy, the energy will be nuclear/solar, so it will be about something else. but at the moment I have absolutely no justification for electric cars as far as the environment is concerned.
1) I mentioned it several times in the comments, but I'll write it again :) electric cars are a matter of the FUTURE
2) It's not so much about the environment, but about the limitability of the resource - oil will run out one day, SOLAR energy, i.e. the one from the sun above :) - no.
I don't agree, I take the train because I need to do something on the journey, and I'm not in the mood for those pirates around me who throw around 250 and fuck others... the main disadvantage of the train is that it runs at predetermined intervals, sometimes you have to wait for a transfer, ČD doesn't wait to competitor trains and vice versa
the idea of getting into the car when it suits me (not when the timetable says so, not to mention the latecomers, who will not pay me) is very tempting .. but more the music of the distant future than the present
in addition, I think that an automatic car would require a fundamentally different infrastructure and would definitely not work on the tank track known as D1 :-D
My opinion is that electric cars are just as much of a bummer as 3D TV.
for God's sake, I hope they don't send claimed Iautas to Britex. They'd throw a kettle under your car and goodbye humidity sensor