Major Apple Car decision may mean it has no steering wheel

It appears like the Apple Car project is finally going forward. Despite prior projections, the business has opted to move through with the development of a completely autonomous driving system, with a target deployment date of 2025.

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The “Apple Car,” maybe Apple’s worst-kept secret, is being built for a release in 2024 or later. According to rumours, it will be a fully functional self-driving electric vehicle that will compete with Tesla and other electric vehicles. Apple might team up with other well-known manufacturers like as Hyundai or BMW, or look for another solution.

Major Apple Car decision may mean it has no steering wheel

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According to a recent Bloomberg article, Apple’s strategy boss Kevin Lynch has decided to abandon plans to develop a car with limited self-driving capabilities in favour of an Apple Car that requires no driver interaction.

Apple is said to have set an internal goal of releasing a road-worthy vehicle within the next four years, however sources say the deadline might be pushed back if the business can’t achieve the needed autonomous technology before 2025.

This is the most significant Apple Car news we’ve heard in a long time. Several high-profile industry personalities, like Tesla’s former Autopilot software head, Christopher Moore, have joined the project in recent months, but tangible advancements have been few and far between.

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Could anyone spare a crumb of partnership?

We know that Apple still hasn’t nailed down an automotive manufacturer to partner with on the project, though, and the question of which car brand to do business with has been the major subject of conversation – and controversy – around the Apple Car vision.

For instance, we’ve previously reported on ongoing negotiations between Apple and HyundaiKia and even LG Electronics, though no deal has yet to see the light of day – publicly, at least. 

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Of course, there’s every chance that the tech giant won’t ever find a suitable collaborator on its Apple Car plans. 

It’s no wonder, though, that the big car brands have seemed reluctant to become a bit-part supplier – in the same way Foxconn is to Tesla – on a vehicle that would ultimately bear the Apple name.

But Apple is well aware of that fact. As a consequence, we’ve seen more recent reports hinting that the company may be prepared to shoulder the entire development process on its own – similar to the approach taken by Elon Musk’s Tesla. 

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This shift towards in-house development would corroborate Bloomberg’s claims regarding Apple’s re-tooled focus on creating an innovative autonomous technology base, the likes of which the auto industry has never seen before.

In fact, Apple’s new plans are so ambitious, that Bloomberg claims the company is now aiming to develop a car with no steering wheel or pedals, and an iPad-like infotainment system in the center of the cabin.

It’s clear, then, that Apple’s pivot away from convention may indeed prove the company’s capacity for innovation beyond the computing and mobile industries – but a 2025 target is more than a little ambitious, in our opinion. 

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“Apple Car” Design

At first, “Venture Titan” was supposed to include an electric vehicle named “Apple Car,” conveyed by 2019 or 2020. Towards the finish of 2015, notwithstanding, the program encountered “a staggering disappointment of initiative,” as indicated by one source, in which administrators battled about where Titan was going. This prompted the flight of undertaking pioneer Steve Zadesky.

The plan and innovation behind “Undertaking Titan” stayed especially in motion, sources said, with Apple at one point considering utilizing BMW’s i3 as the reason for its “Apple Car.” Apple and BMW have held discussions about an expected organization, however both BMW and Daimler supposedly finished discussions with Apple over who may lead the task and own information.

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BMW i3 passenger vehicle

BMW’s i3 passenger vehicle

One German report showed that Apple had a mysterious vehicle lab in Berlin, staffed by around 15 to 20 “top-class” individuals from the German automobile industry taking care of on problems like “Apple Car” ideas, producing associations, and deals/administrative hindrances. A potential maker is the Austrian division of Magna Steyr.

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In May 2016, Mansfield was said to have reported the new Titan methodology “in a Silicon Valley assembly hall loaded with many Titan representatives,” clarifying that after an assessment, he concluded Apple shouldn’t contend straightforwardly with Tesla, which as of now has a few electric vehicles available and is working consistently towards full self-driving frameworks.

The first vision of an “Apple Car” that would identify its driver by means of unique mark and afterward drive them anyplace had progressed from a to some degree independent vehicle to something more aspiring. Notwithstanding, another element that might have pulled Apple away from its vehicle is the auto store network. While Apple is accustomed to having the option to apply weighty command over providers for gadgets like the iPhone, the organization might have found that automobile parts creators would be less anxious to focus on an “Apple Car,” given the further costs included, and Apple is probable delivering vehicles in little beginning numbers.

In the mean time, the organization is supposed to be creating charging framework by recruiting architects and talking innovation with firms that supply charging stations. An obscure designing and development firm purportedly moved toward Apple about offering administrations.

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A July 2017 report asserted Apple is working with Chinese firm Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to explore and foster new batteries for cars. Barely any insights regarding the privacy understanding were accounted for, with CATL authoritatively declining to remark.

In contrast to oneself driving component, which is normally in the public eye, the plan endeavors of Apple have been left hidden generally. Beside reports, which have even proposed Apple is making an electric van, the main genuine signs so far of Apple’s plan course have been patent applications.

In view of patent filings, tales, and theory, the outward presentation of the vehicle could offer a few takeoffs from current vehicle plan.

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Apple’s utilization of smooth lines in different items could be reused in the “Apple Car,” just as wide-swinging entryways that take out the requirement for a long-lasting focus entryway column, making openings considerably bigger. Proposition incorporate the utilization of AR and VR innovation, in-screen shows, security lighting, and remarkable sunroof plans, among different ideas.

The presentation of self-driving frameworks could additionally illuminate the vehicle’s plan and result in more extreme formats, as there would be to a lesser extent a requirement for customary guest plans.

“Apple Car” Release Speculation

In case Apple means to really deliver an “Apple Car,” there might be a couple of more years to delay until it is disclosed to people in general interestingly.

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Reports from 2016 proposed Apple was focusing on a 2020 rollout, however issues constrained a deferral into 2021, for example, the flight of undertaking pioneer Steve Zadesky.

It was additionally muddled whether Apple’s first endeavor at a vehicle would incorporate some degree of self-driving ability. Notwithstanding, the detailing was not long before Apple begun its endeavors to test the framework on open streets.

Noted Apple investigator Ming-Chi Kuo proposed in August 2018 that Apple would make a delivery customer item under “Task Titan” by as ahead of schedule as 2023, with the “Apple Car” dispatch window extending similarly as into 2025. There was no sign of not really set in stone the dates, however he composed he anticipates that Apple should exploit structural changes in the car market.

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By utilizing “possibly gigantic” substitution requests arising in the area because of the presentation of new advancements, Kuo accepts Apple can exploit a vehicle market that is ready for change, along these lines to how the cell phone market existed before the iPhone.

The investigator additionally proposes the vehicle undertaking could assist with moving Apple towards a $2 trillion valuation.

An idea picture

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An idea picture of the ‘Apple Car’ [by Motor Trend]

Reports in late 2020 show Apple might be early and an item might be prepared by 2024. It could highlight a revolutionary new battery plan that would lessen cost and broaden driving reach.

Ming-Chi Kuo has expressed that a delivery is impossible before 2025, that most bits of hearsay with regards to a dispatch preceding that have been “overhyped.” Given that there have been no makers chosen, TF Securities assesses that if “everything works out positively” a dispatch somewhere in the range of 2025 and 2027 is probable.

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Hyundai has affirmed that Apple has moved toward it and different organizations about creating the Apple Car. Such progressed talks are typical and demonstrate Apple is prepared to start creation before very long. A similar report demonstrates that in spite of beginning creation, the vehicle won’t be prepared to dispatch for quite a long time yet — 2024 at the most punctual, however 2027 is by all accounts more practical.

To hold back from weakening the Hyundai brand, it might allot auxiliary Kia to produce the Apple Car. Kia’s plant in Georgia would be an essential area.

Hyundai later uncovered that the conversations with Apple had finished before February 2021. Nissan has since moved toward Apple with interest in assembling the Apple vehicle.

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Apple is relied upon to assemble a “beta” variant of the “Apple Car” by 2022 then request 100,000 for creation in 2024. Bits of hearsay highlight Japan for beginning assembling, even with worldwide part deficiencies Apple is as yet focusing on 2024.

“Apple Car” features and testing

Self-Driving Systems

Kept under the “Project Titan” name due to its closeness to the original car-design concept, Apple’s work on self-driving vehicle systems has been the most prominent element of the entire scheme.

Unlike the designs, which are brought up in patent filings and rumors, it is actively known Apple has developed and tested a self-driving system, one that has appeared in public filings with government regulators, and has even been spotted on public roads.

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PERMITS AND LEGALITIES

In an early open affirmation of its auto desires, Apple, in an assertion gave to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November 2016, proposed an arrangement update that would give industry novices similar freedoms as set up producers with regards to testing on open streets.

Then, at that point head of item honesty at Apple Steve Kenner said the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy cleared a protected and adaptable way toward the advancement of mechanized vehicles, however recommended proposed guidelines could be more open for organizations new to the business.

Alexander Hitzinger

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Alexander Hitzinger once of Porsche and presently said to be chipping away at “Task Titan.”

On April 14, 2017, the California Department of Motor Vehicles added Apple to the rundown of organizations conceded authorization to test self-driving vehicles in the express, a sign that Apple could in any case be dealing with “Task Titan” and “Apple Car.”

The conceding of the Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit permitted Apple to take a self-driving vehicle onto public streets, with organizations incapable to legitimately perform such testing without the license. Apple is accepted to have met with the state’s DMV in 2015, conceivably in a conversation of acquiring consent for out and about testing, however kept testing on private property at that point.

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Apple’s underlying grant covered three vehicles, all Lexus RX540h SUVs, with six drivers filling in as a reinforcement in the event that the installed frameworks experience issues. Thinking about the utilization of Lexus SUVs, it is plausible that Apple is trying only its detecting and AI innovation, rather than a totally new vehicle.

One justification for utilizing existing vehicles for these tests is that driving an “Apple Car” that Apple has made would ruin the unexpected treat for its dispatch. Openly flaunting another vehicle configuration would likewise straightforwardly hand thoughts to other vehicle makers, possibly permitting them to enhance on Apple’s vehicle before it is revealed.

Preparing gear

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Preparing gear utilized for testing oneself driving module of a potential “Apple Car”

As a feature of its application to the California DMV for consent to test self-driving vehicles, Apple gave the public authority organization archives intended to prepare potential wellbeing drivers, before the vehicles are taken out onto public streets.

The “Improvement Platform Specific Training” reports uncovered the drivers should breeze through essential assessments prior to being permitted to set off, with the tests going from fundamental moving to vehicle frameworks mediation. This incorporates low-speed and rapid driving, U-turns, unexpected directing information, abrupt speed increase, slowing down, and overseeing “clashing blinker and activity” occasions.

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At the point when the vehicle isn’t being constrained by programming, drivers can electronically take the wheel through drive-by-wire innovation, utilizing a Logitech directing haggle framework fitted before the Lexus RX450h’s drive controls. Pilots can withdraw the independent driving framework by squeezing the brake pedal or getting the guiding haggle have the option to speed up without superseding the framework by any means.

The reports that followed being conceded consent to test, just as other inclusion of self-driving activities, has provoked Apple to keep in touch with the DMV, requesting explanation to changes to the manner in which it reports occasions.

In particular, Apple needed explanation on “withdrawal announcing,” which are reports produced when the security driver separates oneself driving framework, for example, to stay away from mishaps or to oversee surprising occasions. Apple needs to straighten out these reports, just as to prohibit subtleties of arranged tests, the finish of testing, functional limitations, and other optional choices performed by the driver.

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Apple additionally asks not to conjecture “about future occasions that poor person happened” when detailing occurrences that would have occurred assuming the driver had not separated.

“Apple accepts that public acknowledgment is vital for the headway of robotized vehicles. Admittance to straightforward and instinctive information on the security of the vehicles being tried will be vital to acquiring public acknowledgment,” composes Apple Director of Product Integrity Steve Kenner. “Nonetheless, the current and proposed separation detailing necessities don’t accomplish this outcome.”

A couple of years after the fact in February 2019, it was uncovered by the DMV that Apple’s self-driving vehicle testbed was the most noticeably awful performing framework based on streets in conditions of withdrawals, in last spot among 28 firms testing independent vehicles on California streets.

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Apple disclosed to the DMV in a letter the framework was intended to be moderate for security purposes, with it failing towards manual control in an extensive number of cases. Drivers were likewise trained to expect control “any time they consider significant,” again because of security worries on open streets.

Vehicle AND DRIVER COUNTS

As of January 2018, the province of California allowed Apple to have 27 self-driving vehicles running on open streets. While a tremendous jump from the three Lexus vehicles from April 2017, it is was as yet a long ways behind the huge armadas worked by contending firms.

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By March 2018, the armada developed to 45 vehicles on California streets. The next May, the figures arrived at 55 test vehicles and 83 approved drivers, and in July, Apple was enlisted with the California DMV to bring the armada up to 66 vehicles, prior to cresting at 72 vehicles and 144 drivers in November 2018.

In April 2019, information from the California DMV showed Apple had 69 vehicles and 110 drivers, a decrease in the numbers.

The next August, similar information source showed Apple as having 143 enlisted pilots, however not the quantity of vehicles being utilized.

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In February 2018, the California DMV got endorsement from the California Office of Administrative Law to set guidelines set up to permit organizations to test remotely worked independent vehicles on open streets. From April 2, the DMV’s public trying structure considers self-driving vehicles to go out and about without a driver in the driver’s seat, rather than requiring human “remote” drivers. The far off drivers would screen the vehicle utilizing an interchanges connect, prepared to assume responsibility for the vehicle from the installed frameworks in case of a crisis.

TESTBEDS AND SENSORS

Lexus testing vehicle

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One of the Lexus used to test Apple’s self-driving frameworks being created for “Apple Car”

The primary sightings of a vehicle utilized by Apple for its self-driving vehicle test surfaced in late April 2017, spotted withdrawing an Apple office.

The underlying tests, as expected in DMV records, involved adding additional hardware to a prior vehicle. The pictures affirmed the utilization of a Lexus RX450h, shaded in white, with various additional things dashed onto the vehicle.

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On the SUV’s rooftop was a Velodyne LiDAR 64-channel unit, rushed to a custom casing, and radar clusters are mounted onto the front and back guards. Cameras in defensive lodgings encompass the vehicle’s outside, furnishing oneself driving framework with a 360-degree perspective on its environmental elements.

While the testing reports instructed with respect to the utilization of a Logitech directing haggle framework, the test vehicle itself didn’t seem to utilize the things by any means. This proposed the additional wheel was only for assessment purposes, or that Apple has figured out how to get its self-driving innovation working with Lexus’ installed frameworks, leaving the controlling wheel allowed to be utilized by the test pilot.

A street client spotted what could be a refreshed adaptation of Apple’s self-driving testbed on August 25 that very year. The vehicle was purportedly left outside of an Apple office in Sunnyvale, California.

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It showed up from the photos that Apple is utilizing the 2016-2017 Lexus RX450h, a more current model of the 2015-release vehicle recently utilized for testing. An adjustment of the situating of the gear to fit totally on the top of the vehicle was spotted at that point, with overhauls and another look additionally applied to the testbed.

However hard to indicate what gear is being utilized, it appeared to be that Apple utilized a Puck LiDAR sensor from Velodyne, a 16-channel unit that can log 300,000 focuses each second at a scope of up to 100 meters. An aggregate of 14 Pucks seemed, by all accounts, to be mounted to the vehicle, with four looking ahead, two behind, and two at each corner.

Other hardware on the vehicle included different cameras, a GPS unit with a recieving wire, radio interchanges gear, and a distance estimating framework. Beside the focal sensor exhibit, five yellow-covered sensors were noticeable, which might have been conservative radar clusters to help the primary detecting framework.

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Endeavors are being moved forward concerning sensors, with an April 2019 report demonstrating the organization is in chats with part providers making parts that could be utilized in self-driving frameworks. Apple has purportedly conversed with different LiDAR sensor providers and is clearly assessing innovation on offer while at the same time chipping away at its own LiDAR equipment.

While this examination is more for testing right now, the discussions could likewise identify with future assembling endeavors, including making more modest parts that could contract down the general assortment of sensors to a more reasonable size, potentially to one that could be all the more effectively coordinated into the “Apple Car’s” plan.

A patent, truly in late 2020, definite how the front windshield would incorporate a score to account for sensors. This is like how Apple has moved toward the score on iPhones with Face ID.

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POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP WITH HERTZ

June 2017 report from Bloomberg claims Apple partnered with rental car provider Hertz in order to test out its self-driving vehicle systems. While such systems would have a commercial use for rental cars, such as vehicles automatically driving back to a rental outlet and saving customers from driving them there themselves, it appears the partnership was mostly for testing purposes only.

According to the report, Apple apparently leased a “small fleet of cars” from Hertz subsidiary Donlen for the driving trials, with the Lexus RX450h SUV specifically chosen due to the model already being used by Apple for the project. A later report from CNBC claimed Apple is leasing just six vehicles from Donlen, a small number, but one that would effectively double the number of vehicles Apple was testing on public roads at the time. 

It was unclear if the vehicles will be used just by Apple’s nominated drivers only, or if Hertz customers could be able to rent the vehicles in question with the driving system installed, but the relative silence suggests members of the public were not involved. 

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“Apple Car” Timeline

2021

NOVEMBER

  • Reports from BloombergWedbush, and Morgan Stanly suggest 2025 “Apple Car” release window
  • Apple authorized to use 69 vehicles and 137 pilots

SEPTEMBER

  • Apple authorized to use 69 test vehicles and 114 pilots
  • Kevin Lynch takes over a lead executive after Field’s departure
  • Apple to refocus Apple Car to internal development
  • Arizona vehicle testing facility purchased by shell company believed to be operated by Apple
  • Ford poaches Doug Field 

AUGUST

  • Apple authorized to use 69 test vehicles and 92 pilots
  • External displays could warn others what autonomous system is doing

JULY

  • Apple wants car batteries manufactured in US

JUNE

  • Robotics team leader Dave Scott leaves project

MAY

  • Windshield could be used for AR display
  • Vibrations could be used to help find lost items under the seat

April

  • Analyst says Apple is expected to share information about “Apple Car” by summer 2021
  • LG and Magna partnership could win “Apple Car” contract

March

  • Foxconn could assemble “Apple Car”

February

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  • Nissan shows interest in manufacturing “Apple Car”
  • Apple and Kia discussions put on hold despite nearing a deal
  • “Apple Car” won’t have a steering wheel says analyst
  • Dr. Manfred Harrer, former head of Porsche’s Cayenne joins Apple

JANUARY

  • Apple reportedly requested 100,000 cars be produced in $3.6 billion deal
  • Hyundai confirms being in talks with Apple
  • Apple reportedly in talks with Hyundai to manufacture “Apple Car” using subsidiary Kia
  • Report says don’t expect “Apple Car” for another five to seven years

2020

DECEMBER

  • Apple reportedly producing car with “next level” battery technology
  • Supply chain reports say “Apple Car” could launch in September 2021
  • Apple rumored to be working with TSMC on processors for the “Apple Car”
  • John Giannandrea moved to oversee “Project Titan”

SEPTEMBER

  • Apple reports how LiDAR systems capture Apple Maps data

JUNE

  • NHTSA introduces voluntary program for companies to report where self-driving cars are being tested called AV TEST

MAY

  • Apple to retain “bumper to bumper” control of the “Apple Car” says Morgan Stanley
  • Apple researching use of Tesla-style induction motor according to a new patent

FEBRUARY

  • Apple reports 23 self-driving vehicles to the DMV

2019

DECEMBER

  • Apple representatives ask the federal court to closely monitor the former employees accused of stealing trade secrets

JULY

  • Steve MacManus, auto interior export formerly with Tesla joins Apple

JUNE

  • Apple acquires Drive.ai

MAY

  • Report claims Apple building multiple large drive rooms in California for working on improving battery technology

APRIL

  • Apple reports 69 self-driving vehicles to the DMV
  • Apple reportedly in talks with suppliers for LiDAR sensors destined for “Project Titan”

MARCH

  • Michael Schwekutsch, former VP of engineering at Tesla joins Apple
  • Tim Cook says future products will “blow you away” as company is “rolling the dice”

FEBRUARY

  • German report says “Apple Car” will be a van
  • DMV report shows Apple’s self-driving system was worst-performing in terms of disengagements, or drivers assuming control

JANUARY

  • Jizhong Chen arrested for alleged theft of trade secrets
  • 200 employees shifted or laid off from “Project Titan”
  • Alexander Hitzinger leaves Apple for Volkswagen

2018

DECEMBER

  • Andrew Kim, former senior designer at Tesla joins Apple

NOVEMBER

  • Apple reports 72 self-driving vehicles to the DMV

AUGUST

  • First registered car accident involving Apple’s self-driving program, other driver at fault
  • Report says Apple hired 46 people from Tesla throughout 2018
  • Doug Field, former VP of Mac hardware who joined Tesla returns to Apple

JULY

  • Xiaolang Zhang, former “Project Titan” compute team member arrested for alleged theft of trade secrets
  • Apple reports 66 self-driving vehicles to the DMV

JUNE

  • Jamie Waydo, former senior engineer at Waymo joins Apple

MAY

  • PAIL shuttles linked to Volkswagen
  • Apple reports 55 self-driving vehicles to the DMV

APRIL

  • John Giannandrea, former Google AI chief joins Apple

MARCH

  • Apple reports 45 self-driving vehicles to the DMV

JANUARY

  • Apple reports 27 self-driving vehicles to the DMV, up from three

2017

DECEMBER

  • Apple AI research director Ruslan Salakhutdinov spoke at the NIPS machine learning conference, mentions how camera-based recognition can detect objects obscured by rain and parked cars

NOVEMBER

  • Apple releases research paper that explains LiDAR-based 3D object recognition
  • Report says Apple leased a former Fiat Chrysler proving grounds in Surprise, Arizona

AUGUST

  • 17 engineers specializing in braking, suspension, and other systems leave Apple for Zoox
  • The hiring freeze on “Project Titan” ends
  • Sensor testbed upgraded on vehicles with new LiDAR array, GPS, cameras, and other items
  • Report says Apple partnered with an established automaker to create a self-driving service for employees called PAIL

JULY

  • Claims suggest Apple partnered with China’s CATL on automotive battery research

JUNE

  • Report claims Apple partners with Hertz to test self-driving technology
  • Tim Cook teases automotive initiatives calling it a “core technology” and “the mother of all AI projects”

APRIL

  • Apple requests DMV alter protocols surrounding test reporting to minimize public exposure
  • Cars owned by Apple were spotted with LiDAR sensors, radar arrays, and cameras
  • Documents around Apple’s self-driving vehicle leak, showing training details and use of a Logitech wheel and pedals for control
  • Apple gains California DMV permit for testing on public roads

MARCH

  • Reports say Apple was recruiting experts in computer vision and robotics for a research facility in Switzerland
  • Chinese company Didi Chuxing set up AI lab in Mountain View, California

JANUARY

  • Apple VP Lisa Jackson included in US Department of Transportation advisory committee for self-driving vehicles
  • Chris Lattner, Swift creator at Apple leaves for Tesla

2016

DECEMBER

  • Alaxander Hitzinger, former technical director of the Porsche LMP1 project joins Apple

NOVEMBER

  • Apple requests a policy update to the NHTSA to grant newcomers the same opportunities as established manufacturers for public road testing

OCTOBER

  • Reports suggest that “Apple Car” as a vehicle had stalled as the company focuses on features for existing vehicles
  • Apple pushes project to prove the practicality of a self-driving feature by late 2017
  • “Hundreds” reported having been fired or quit the car project

AUGUST

  • Apple fires dozens of employees as part of “Project Titan” reboot
  • Bart Nabbe, computer vision expert at Apple leaves for Faraday Future

JULY

  • Dan Dodge, former CEO of BlackBerry owned QNX joins Apple
  • Bob Mansfield takes over as head of “Project Titan”

MAY

  • Apple talks to firms about car charging solutions
  • Apple invests $1 billion in Chinese company Didi Chuxing
  • Apple seeks an 800,000 square-foot plot in San Fransisco Bay
  • Kurt Adelberger, former Google researcher joins Apple

APRIL

  • Kevin Harvey, former CNC machine shop supervisor for Andretti Autosport joins Apple
  • David Masiukiewicz, former R&D hardware prototyping CNC programmer at Tesla joins Apple
  • Chris Porritt, former VP of vehicle engineering at Tesla joins Apple
  • Report says Apple has 15 to 20 employees from German auto industry working in a secret car lab in Berlin
  • Report says Apple using names from Greek mythology to refer to buildings in Sunnyvale, possible connection to “Project Titan”

MARCH

  • Apple leased a 96,000 square-foot warehouse in Sunnyvale that was previously used for bottling Pepsi

FEBRUARY

  • Apple is awarded a building permit for a 9,600 square-foot space and another building for an “auto testing center”
  • A noise complaint about motor noises in an Apple-owned Sunnyvale property is filed

JANUARY

  • Jony Ive expressed displeasure at “Project Titan” causing a hiring freeze
  • Steve Zadesky leaves Apple and “Project Titan”
  • Ottawa, Canada office leased by Apple near BlackBerry automotive software offices
  • Apple acquires new domain names related to “Apple Car”

2015

NOVEMBER

  • Ronan O Braonain, former BMW software engineer joins Apple

OCTOBER

  • Jonathan Cohen, former director of Nvidia CUDA Libraries and Software Solutions joins Apple
  • Mission Motors closes due to losing top talent to Apple
  • Elon Musk says Apple is a “Tesla Graveyard”

SEPTEMBER

  • Apple lawyers met with the California DMV
  • Reports suggest Apple’s poaching of Tesla employees cause delay of Model 3
  • Other hires related to self-driving car algorithms occur

AUGUST

  • Jamie Carlson, former Tesla senior engineer joins Apple
  • Apple acquires 43-acre plot in San Jose
  • Apple seeks 2,100-acre property near San Fransisco

MARCH

  • SixtyEight Research building discovered to have ties to Apple

FEBRUARY

  • Vans with mysterious equipment owned by Apple seen driving in California
  • Report claims Steve Zadesky was running “Project Titan”

2014

NOVEMBER

  • Vehicle focused “Project Titan” leaks
  • SixtyEight Research licensed as foreign corporation in California
  • Johann Jungwirth, former Mercedes-Benz R&D joins Apple

MARCH

  • SixtyEight Research registered

“Apple Car” may be Apple’s biggest undertaking yet, and its worst kept secret. Announcements surrounding the project should occur sometime in the next few years.

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