Apple's Automobile Project Said to Include Self-Driving Cars

Following up on yesterday's series of reports about a "top-secret research team" at Apple working on an electric car, Reuters now weighs in with its own source claiming the project involves a self-driving electric car.

Technology giant Apple is learning how to make a self-driving electric car and is talking to experts at carmakers and automotive suppliers, an automotive source familiar with the talks said on Saturday.

The Cupertino, California-based maker of phones, computers and watches is exploring how to make an entire vehicle, not just designing automotive software or individual components, the source said.

"They don't appear to want a lot of help from carmakers," the source, who declined to be named, said.

The source's of claim of self-driving capabilities for the vehicle directly contradicts yesterday's Wall Street Journal report, which specifically stated a self-driving car was not part of the effort. Reuters' source is from the automotive industry rather than at Apple directly, so it is unclear how complete the source's information is.

Apple would not be the only major technology company working on self-driving cars, as Google has been working on such a project for a number of years and has made significant progress in the area. Major car manufacturers are also working hard on technology that would make their cars at least somewhat autonomous.

google_self_driving_car

Google's prototype self-driving car

Yesterday's report from The Wall Street Journal provided a fair bit of detail on Apple's efforts, noting that Tim Cook approved the project last year. Former Ford engineer and longtime Apple design vice president Steve Zadesky given permission to build a team of up to 1,000 employees largely from within the company to work on the project at a Silicon Valley location separate from Apple's main campus.

Related Roundup: CarPlay
Tag: Reuters

Popular Stories

m5 macbook pro deal

Why You Shouldn't Buy the Next MacBook Pro

Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works. We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3

Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, ...
Apple Logo Zoomed

Apple Expected to Launch These 10+ Products Over the Coming Months

Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more. Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
iPhone 16e Bottom Crop

Apple Reportedly Unveiling a New iPhone Next Week

Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically. The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
Apple Logo Black

Apple Acquires New Database App

Wednesday February 11, 2026 6:44 am PST by
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged. The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions. Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
144 months ago
I wonder how many industries Apple and Google will have moved into in 10 years' time.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
144 months ago
This is going to be the thinnest car ever.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
144 months ago
Going to need one of those inflatable people so I can travel in the car pool lane.

Yeah....that's the only reason I have an inflatable person too.....
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacrumoursUser Avatar
144 months ago
So sill the S version be faster every year?
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
8CoreWhore Avatar
144 months ago
Don't forget, Elon Musk made the Tesla technology available for anyone to use free of charge. They have promised to not protect their patents.
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you

Tesla only makes expensive premium cars and people have assumed they'd make a car with this tech for the masses but Musk has shrugged off this notion, leaving that task to others.

Who? So far, no other car company I know of has taken Musk up on his offer to use this tech. Instead, they have been wasting their time developing their own systems, which, so far, have limited appeal and limited range, and perhaps too high of a price, and none of them have auto-pilot (limited assistance, not fully self-driving).

BTW, all Tesla cars in production include auto-pilot and is capable of software upgrades to make the car fully self-driving.

Apple would not have to develop their own technology, their own patents, for either the electric drive train or the autonomous features.

They may see an opportunity open to them to develop their version of what the world has been waiting for, a sub 20K USD fully electric car with plenty of range for the masses.

The media so far has confused the leaks about them developing a car with the stories about those vans shooting 3D street-view imaging. "Apple is developing a car... a van..."

Those vans are shooting Apple's version of Google's street view.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diddl14 Avatar
144 months ago
No idea if this is true or not but I surely like the outlook to one day be able to say:

"Siri, bring me home!"
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)