Apple Hires Self-Driving Car Startup Founder and Former BMW Exec Ulrich Kranz
Former BMW senior executive and self-driving vehicle startup founder Ulrich Kranz has taken on a role at Apple working on the company's autonomous car project, reports Bloomberg.

Kranz founded Canoo, a self-driving car startup that he left earlier this year. Prior to creating Canoo, Kranz helped to develop the i3 and i8 vehicles at BMW, where he was employed for 30 years.
According to Bloomberg, Kranz's hiring is a sign that Apple is determined to build a self-driving vehicle that will rival Tesla. Kranz will report to Apple Car lead Doug Fields, who works under AI chief John Giannandrea.
Rumors about Apple's car project have picked up in recent months as Apple now appears to be looking for suppliers and manufacturing partners to develop the vehicle. There were rumors that Apple would work with Hyundai's Kia division, but it's not clear if that relationship has progressed.
Development on the Apple Car remains in the early stages, and Bloomberg suggests that it will be at around five years before the product is ready to debut.
Related Stories
One of Apple's self-driving test vehicles was involved in a minor incident on September 27, according to a filing made with the California DMV [PDF].
The self-driving vehicle, which was operating in autonomous mode at the time, clipped a curb while going 13 miles per hour. There was no damage reported, but the car did require a realignment.A test vehicle, operating in autonomous mode in...
Apple is picking up its work on an Apple-designed car and is aiming to create a fully autonomous vehicle, reports Bloomberg. Apple is "refocusing" the project around full self-driving vehicles, a goal that other car manufacturers have not been able to achieve.
Work on an Apple Car began way back in 2014, and since then, the project has gone through multiple transformations. At one point,...
British vehicle leasing company Vanarama has taken a stab at imagining what the first Apple Car could look like, taking inspiration from iPhones, MacBooks, and other Apple products, and combining them with real Apple patents to come up with a 3D concept render that can be explored inside and out. Given that Apple remains tight-lipped about its electric self-driving car plans, the concept is ...
Wednesday September 1, 2021 12:37 pm PDT by
Juli CloverTwo of Apple's self-driving cars operating in manual mode were involved in minor collisions in August, according to the California DMV.
The first incident [PDF] occurred in San Diego, California in the Hillcrest area on August 19. The Lexus RX 450h was stopped in traffic and was hit by a Hyundai. The accident was described as minor with no injuries.
The second accident [PDF] occurred on...
Apple is in "early-stage talks" with two Chinese companies about the supply of batteries for a future Apple Car, according to a new Reuters report.
Apple is in early-stage talks with China's CATL and BYD about the supply of batteries for its planned electric vehicle, four people with knowledge of the matter said.
The discussions are subject to change and it is not clear if agreements with...
Apple VP of technology Kevin Lynch is taking over the Apple Car project and will be replacing Doug Field, who is moving to Ford, reports Bloomberg.
Lynch first joined the Apple Car team in July, with reports suggesting he had been called on to help lead Apple Car development. Now that Field has left the company, Lynch will be taking over his role and will be in charge of the Apple Car. Lynch ...
In 2020, Apple introduced a digital car key feature that allows users to unlock and start a compatible vehicle by bringing an iPhone or Apple Watch near the driver-side door. The feature has been limited to select BMW models since launching.
According to Apple, the feature has now expanded to select 2022 vehicle models from Genesis and Kia, which are both divisions of Korean automaker...
Apple has lost "several" top managers from its internal Apple Car project, codenamed "Project Titan," causing a potential setback to the launch of the self-driving car, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
From the report:
Apple Inc. has lost multiple top managers of its self-driving car team in recent months, a sign of attrition at the division involved in what could become an...
Popular Stories
With around four months to go before Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 14 lineup, the overwhelming majority of rumors related to the new devices so far have focused on the iPhone 14 Pro, rather than the standard iPhone 14 – leading to questions about how different the iPhone 14 will actually be from its predecessor, the iPhone 13.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are expected...
Earlier this week, The Information's Wayne Ma outlined struggles that Apple has faced during the development of its long-rumored AR/VR headset. Now, in a follow-up report, he has shared several additional details about the wearable device. Apple headset render created by Ian Zelbo based on The Information reporting For starters, one of the headset's marquee features is said to be lifelike...
Sony this week came out with an updated version of its popular over-ear noise canceling headphones, so we picked up a pair to compare them to the AirPods Max to see which headphones are better and whether it's worth buying the $400 WH-1000XM5 from Sony over Apple's $549 AirPods Max.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. First of all, the AirPods Max win out when it comes ...
Apple has silently increased the price of its Apple Music subscription for college students in several countries, with the company emailing students informing them their subscription would be slightly increasing in price moving forward. The price change is not widespread and, based on MacRumors' findings, will impact Apple Music student subscribers in but not limited to Australia, the...
The iPhone 14 will feature a more expensive "high-end" front-facing camera with autofocus, partly made in South Korea for the first time, ET News reports.
Apple reportedly ousted a Chinese candidate to choose LG Innotek, a South Korean company, to supply the iPhone 14's front-facing camera alongside Japan's Sharp. The company is said to have originally planned to switch to LG for the iPhone...
Top Rated Comments
No Apple Car, YOU DRIVE.