Apple's fleet of self-driving vehicles roaming the streets of California for testing now includes 69 vehicles and 92 drivers, according to information from the California Department of Motor Vehicles obtained by macReports.
This means that Apple has added one self-driving car and 16 drivers since May this year. Apple has been expanding its autonomous vehicle test since it was granted a permit from the California DMV in April 2017, enabling it to test its self-driving technology on public roads in the state. Beginning in early 2018, multiple sources reported on the number of vehicles in Apple's fleet, which steadily expanded throughout that year.
Each of Apple's testing vehicles is equipped with the company's in-development autonomous driving software, along with advanced LiDAR equipment and an array of cameras to detect the vehicle's surroundings. The actual cars are Lexus RX450h sports utility vehicles and must have safety drivers inside of them, since, unlike rival companies that are self-driving technology, Apple's permit still does not include driverless testing.
Apple's fleet of self-driving vehicles are reportedly gathering data for the company's long-rumored autonomous vehicle software. In June of 2017 Apple CEO Tim Cookconfirmed Apple's work on autonomous software: "We're focusing on autonomous systems. It's a core technology that we view as very important. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects... it's probably one of the most difficult AI projects to actually work on."
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Apple had more than doubled its self-driving mileage in 2020, reaching a total of 18,805 miles, up from the 7,544 miles the previous year. There were a total of 130 disengagements in 2020, up from 64 in 2019, but Apple's cars experienced a disengagement every 144.6 miles, which is a better metric than the previous year where there was a disengagement every 117.8 miles, indicating an improvement in the technology.
Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more.
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
Monday November 10, 2025 1:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display.
Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
Tuesday November 11, 2025 1:23 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items.
The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by Juli Clover
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information.
Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen.
Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting.
The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season.
Note: MacRumors is...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 9:15 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today announced that iPhone users can now create a Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app based on information from their U.S. passport.
To create and present a Digital ID based on a U.S. passport, you need:
An iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 26.1 or later
Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on
An Apple Account ...
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 2:49 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's website is causing some confusion among Mac owners, and for good reason – its device compatibility listing for Apple Intelligence appears to have dropped support for M1 Macs.
The U.S. version of its Apple Intelligence webpage has been updated at the bottom to list "M2 or later" Mac models as eligible for the AI features, replacing the long-standing "M1 and later" requirement....
Tesla should open source all their 3D maps, AI data and self driving algorithms.
Their first mover advantage based on having already countless cars on the road gathering data is a de facto tax on the self driving space, thus stifling innovation.
can't be hard to beat tesla. their FSD has turned out to be garbage. elon's smokescreen is lifting away.
An issue with your thesis is that Tesla is the undisputed leader in FSD that's in the hands of non-employees right now.
There's Waymo's little 100 square mile beta, Tesla's national beta with 5K vehicles, and then nobody else.
Then there's widely released autonomy software. Tesla pretty handily leads there with 1M+ vehicles and I don't think anybody is even bothering to try saying they're in the same league as Tesla anymore (GM's Supercruise, Ford's Blue whatever, Nissan Pro-Pilot, and Audi Jam Assist)... they all used to say that they had something, and then it turned out that nobody could match Tesla's first iteration of Autopilot from 2014, nevermind what they're doing today.
Tesla should open source their proprietary software, which they’ve been working on for a decade? Is this a joke? They have a first mover advantage because they entered this space earlier and better and more decisively than any of their competitors. Now other companies get to play catch up. Next time maybe they’ll innovate sooner.
Kinda like sparking a multi-billion dollars app ecosystem in 2008, constantly providing the best hardware and OS updates afterwards to run apps on a pleasant&fast&safe spending-inducing platform and then asking an industry-standard 30% cut on the apps proceeds? I get it, now that I think about it.
An issue with your thesis is that Tesla is the undisputed leader in FSD that's in the hands of non-employees right now.
There's Waymo's little 100 square mile beta, Tesla's national beta with 5K vehicles, and then nobody else.
Then there's widely released autonomy software. Tesla pretty handily leads there with 1M+ vehicles and I don't think anybody is even bothering to try saying they're in the same league as Tesla anymore (GM's Supercruise, Ford's Blue whatever, Nissan Pro-Pilot, and Audi Jam Assist)... they all used to say that they had something, and then it turned out that nobody could match Tesla's first iteration of Autopilot from 2014, nevermind what they're doing today.
Tesla is claiming it's in a league all it's own. GM Super Cruise is most definitely as advanced as Tesla.
Tesla is level 2 autonomous, no matter what Elon says. The "full self driving" is a farce.
There are no level 4 or level 5 autonomous systems out there.
