A smartphone giant just came out with its first car. No, Apple hasn’t about-faced on its plans to scrap its decade-long Project Titan car program. Instead, Chinese tech behemoth Xiaomi unveiled a sporty electric vehicle Thursday it hopes will rival those made by Porsche and Tesla. It’s the Xiaomi SU7 EV series.
Collaborating with Apple, upscale carmakers Porsche and Aston Martin previewed next-generation, more fully integrated CarPlay interfaces for upcoming models Wednesday.
Apple announced next-gen CarPlay in 2022, set to start rolling out in vehicles from more than a dozen makers by the end of 2023 and in 2024.
Porsche just became the first carmaker to give drivers personalized control over vehicle functions from an app within CarPlay, accessible via new digital controls on the dashboard (and on iPhone).
With the My Porsche app showing up in CarPlay to control features like audio, climate and lighting in the latest Cayenne SUV, the integration may give a sense of what CarPlay could be like soon in other cars.
Apple reportedly hired Manfred Harrer for its top-secret self-driving vehicle project. It’s a telling move because Harrer previously was head of chassis development at Porsche. This is a clear sign that the Mac-maker is planning an Apple car, not simply an autonomous vehicle system to be licensed to automakers.
Porsche’s forthcoming electric Taycan will offer three years of free Apple Music streaming. No tethered or wireless iPhone connection needed.
The system will rely on its own in-car dash. Drivers and passengers can use a touch screen and custom Porsche AI voice assistant to select albums, songs, or radio stations. Streaming data costs included.
Have $499,000 to spare and looking to show off your Apple fandom credentials? A replica of the Apple-sponsored 1979 Porsche 935 K3 race car, which once raced at Le Mans, has shown up for sale online.
Apple sponsored the original car, operated by racing team Dick Barbour Racing, in 1980, only a few years into Apple’s history. That vehicle, which features the Apple Computer name and rainbow colors, is now part of radio host and podcaster Adam Corolla’s extensive car collection. While the model for sale here is just a replica, it’s still a pretty stunning collector’s piece — as suggested by the sizable asking price.
Want to feel like a 1960s spy? Fire up your vintage sports car, take to a winding road in the Swiss alps, and then call up information on your auto’s touchscreen control panel.
Such a thing, once firmly in the realm of fiction, is now possible thanks to a new line of CarPlay radios created by Porsche. Allowing you to kit out cars dating back to the 1960s with high-resolution touchscreens, Bluetooth, DAB+, and Apple’s in-car infotainment system, the head units opens up CarPlay to a whole new audience.
Porsche and Apple have brokered a deal to allow the new electric Porsche Taycan can stream Apple Music directly in-car.
“It’s about innovation,” said Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America. “…It’s about brand values that we share. And that’s why we were really excited when the project started.”
Legendary Braun designer Dieter Rams has joined forces with 110 other distinguished industrial design professionals to support Apple in its long standing fight with Samsung for copying the design of the iPhone.
The group of designers have filed a amicus briefing with the US Supreme Court arguing that Apple deserves the millions of dollars it was originally awarded in court because of the company’s innovative look that let to 1 billion units sold.
Don’t count on Porsche to enter the self-driving car craze anytime soon.
In an interview with a German newspaper, Porsche’s CEO Oliver Blume turned up his nose at the idea that one day humans will no longer be in command behind the wheel, saying the company does not plan to develop self-driving vehicles.
To make the point clear that Porsche will not team up with a tech company, the CEO then dropped a not so subtle dig at Apple’s electric car project.
Apple’s “We don’t want to know” non-snooping data protection policy may not be making it too many friends in government, but it’s certainly won over Porsche.
According to a new report, Porsche opted to go with Apple’s CarPlay platform over Google’s Android Auto for its new 911 Carrera and Carrera S models. The reason? The massive disparity in data the two companies demand.
Just like those isolated soldiers that used to be discovered from time to time thinking that WWII was still on, years after it had ended, there’s a designer hidden deep in the offices of Porsche who thinks we still need to use USB thumb drives. Yes, it looks beautiful, just like Hiroo Onoda’s doubtlessly crisply-pressed uniform, but that doesn’t make it right.
Whenever rumors about a new product from Apple begin to pop up, so do the concept drawings, 3D renders, and mockups. The latest rumored Apple device to get the mockup treatment has been the iWatch, Apple’s supposed foray into wearable computing.
Already, I’ve seen no less than half a dozen concepts illustrating what people think the iWatch might look like. Some play heavily off of the design of iOS, others take design influences from the iPhone and iPad, and others yet attempt to emulate the 6th generation iPod nano, the closest thing that Apple has made to a watch so far. While all of these designs take influence from what Apple has already created, none of them take into consideration the external influences that shape the way Apple designs their own products.
For the last two decades of his life, Steve Jobs was a Mercedes man, through and through. But in the 80s, Steve Jobs was a Porsche man. He gave one as an award to the salesman who sold the most Macs in the United States. And in 1980, Apple even sponsored a Porsche to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car endurance race.
Steve Jobs wasn’t known as the most generous man in the world. While working at Atari, he recurited Wozniak to build a version of Pong in a weekend, then lied about how much money was involved and stole the majority of it from his best friend in the world. And when Pixar was just starting up, he’d fire people without any notice and without any severance.
There’s at least one guy out there, though, who thinks Steve Jobs is the most generous guy in the world. In fact, Jobs once gave him a Porsche as a reward for selling the most Macs in the United States. That number? A paltry one hundred and twenty five.
Have you ever jumped into your car with your iPad in your hands, slapped it on the dash in a hurry to get going, then had it slide right off into the passenger door the second you turn out of your road? The SofShell case for iPad 2 can prevent that, because this amazing case will cling to almost anything — including a Porsche doing 60 miles per hour.
From the “Not Sure If This Is A Good Idea” Department, automaker Porsche has developed the Porsche G-Force iPhone app as a free download for driving enthusiasts and teenagers of all ages.
