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](https://images.macrumors.com/t/iWjQNDX7G7QisMzU_iAM68HxD54=/400x0/article-new/2015/02/google_self_driving_car.jpg?lossy)
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.
Popular Stories
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...