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Another Apple employee allegedly caught stealing self-driving car tech for China

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Until the Apple Car is officially announced, all we have are concepts like this one.
The Apple car is still on the drawing board, but that doesn't stop Chinese companies from wanting to steal details of it.
Concept: Midjourney/Cult of Mac

An Apple employee was recently indicted for allegedly transferring trade secrets about self-driving car technology to a Chinese company. This marks the third such incident.

The cases seem quite similar: Chinese companies hire the workers, who then get caught attempting to bring Apple’s proprietary information with them when they leave the United States.

Today in Apple history: Apple teams with Volkswagen for iBeetle car

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The first Apple car, a collaboration with VW known as the iBeetle, rolls onto the scene.
The first Apple car, a collaboration with VW known as the iBeetle, rolls onto the scene.
Photo: Volkswagen

April 22: Today in Apple history: Apple teams with VW for the iBeetle. It's the first Apple car! April 22, 2013: The world gets its first Apple car. Well, kind of.

In reality, the iBeetle is a collaboration with German automaker Volkswagen that offers a car “stylistically linked” to Apple. This means Apple-inspired colors, a built-in docking station for your iPhone, and a special app that lets you control the car’s features.

Apple car just got a lot less ambitious

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It looks like Apple's car will have a steering wheel after all.
It looks like Apple's car will have a steering wheel after all.
Photo: Anna Vi/Unsplash License

Apple’s plan for a completely autonomous vehicle has gone back onto the drawing board, according to a reliable source. The company supposedly is still prepping an electric car but the self-driving capabilities much more limited.

The Apple car could reach customers in about four years.

Apple car is a hit before it’s even announced

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Apple CarPlay's interface will be more integrated, and perhaps more Apple Car-like, in iOS 16
Apple CarPlay's interface in iOS 16 may reveal the instrument panel for a future Apple Car.
Photo: Apple

Although Apple has yet to even admit it’s working on a self-driving electric vehicle, plenty of people want to buy a car from Cupertino. Almost a third of recent car buyers say they’d consider an Apple car. And that includes more than half of Tesla owners.

It seems clear that if the Mac-maker can transform itself into an automaker, it could have a real hit on its hands.

Apple car gets a Lambo injection [The CultCast]

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The CultCast: Spoiler alert: The Apple car probably won't look like a Lamborghini.
Spoiler alert: The Apple car probably won't look like a Lamborghini.
Image: Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple’s electric self-driving car project apparently just landed a bigwig from Lamborghini. Does this mean the hiding-in-plain-sight Apple car is back on track?

Also on The CultCast:

  • Why we didn’t see an M1 Mac Pro — and why we never will.
  • Saudi Arabia’s crazy glass building sounds unbelievable.
  • Anker makes GaN charging even faster and more efficient.
  • The EU’s new Digital Markets Act could bring big changes for Apple and the App Store.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.

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Former Lamborghini exec will help steer Apple car design team

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Apple's new hire worked on this model, a Lamborghini Huracan.
Apple's new hire worked on this model, a Lamborghini Huracan.
Photo: Lamborghini

A former Lamborghini executive recently joined Apple to lead design of the company’s long-rumored self-driving car, according to a new report Wednesday.

As Apple works toward releasing an electric vehicle before the end of this decade, the addition of Luigi Taraborrelli, who worked for the fabled Italian automaker for 20 years, could accelerate the project.

Apple car won’t need a steering wheel

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Apple Car: Hyundai Ioniq Electric x Apple Mouse
The Apple car might never need a driver, just passengers.
Concept: LeaseFetcher

You’ll never get behind the wheel of an Apple car. That’s because the Mac-maker’s plan is a fully autonomous vehicle, according to a trove of information about the upcoming car that came to light Monday. That means no steering wheel and no brake pedal.

But Apple does not yet have a car that’s capable of reliably driving itself. And at least one high-level exec sounds skeptical that it ever will.

Cupertino recruits veteran Ford exec for Apple car team

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Ford took the Apple Car chief, now Cupertino takes another veteran leader from Ford.
Ford took the Apple car chief, now Cupertino takes another veteran leader from Ford.
Photo: Peter Trones/Unsplash License

Accelerating work on its self-driving electric vehicle project, Apple recruited veteran Ford engineer and executive Desi Ujkashevic to join the team.

The move comes after various stalls and road bumps in Cupertino’s secretive Project Titan in recent years, including Ford luring away Apple car chief Doug Field last year.

Apple Car team was ‘dissolved’ but vehicle still coming in 2025

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Making a car could produce a massive windfall for Apple.
An Apple autonomous vehicle could still be on the road in just a few years, despite a reorg of the development team.
Photo: Possessed Photography/Unsplash CC

The group at Apple developing a self-driving electric car has been “dissolved for some time,” according to a reliable source of insider information. But the project supposedly hasn’t been canceled — it’s undergoing a reorganization.

This is likely a reflection of the many difficulties Apple has run into with this very complex project.

Apple tasks South Korean firm with building autopilot chips for its first car

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Apple's actual plans for car remain secretive, with a launch likely at least a couple years away.
Apple's actual plans for car remain secretive, with a launch likely at least a couple years away.
Photo: Vanarama

Apple will use autopilot chips built by a South Korean firm in its first self-driving car, according to a new report.

The two companies joined forces around a year ago and are said to be working on a chipset package that is likely to include a CPU, GPU, memory and imaging interface to “oversee AI computations.”