Apple Reportedly Releasing Electric Car Next Year

[Tsing]

Image: Apple



Apple will reportedly release its long-rumored electric car next year in September. The news comes from Taiwan’s Economic Daily (via MacRumors), which claims that “dozens” of prototype vehicles are already being tested in California. We’re a bit skeptical of the report, however, as trusted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously hinted that the Apple Car would not see the light of day until 2023 at the earliest.



“We expect that Apple Car, which will likely be launched in 2023–2025, will be the next star product,” Kuo said in 2018, providing four reasons as to why the company is delving...

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[Uvilla]

As in branding one im sure.
Doubt apple will actually build the thing?

 

[Brian_B]

Yeah...

I could see Apple pulling a nVidia and trying to get their tech into an established car company's vehicle. Build out on CarPlay to work on the entire interface, and let some other car company (probably Porsche or Benz, since that's what Jobs always drove) build out the chassis and take care of all the NHTSA and other compliance issues for roadworthyness. It's incredible the amount of data you can get over CAN bus in a car, and that makes it tempting to a tech company, but why get stick yourself re-inventing suspension and steering and seatbelts when other companies have been doing it for decades, and your a tech company?

But making an entire new vehicle? Yeah, sure, Apple could do it. But mechanics is not their core competency. I'd more believe Dyson to bring a thing to market, who at least are a company known for mechanical engineering, and they punted on theirs.

I say that... and Apple is renown for vertically integrating though. I just can't see them doing something that's mainly mechanical in house. And they have enough money to throw at it, and they are likely eyeballing Tesla, who jumped into the deep end and are just now starting to make it above water. So yeah... I wouldn't discount it as an impossible rumor, but I would say implausible, as other avenues make more sense.