Apple’s autonomous car project is certainly exciting for Apple fans. It’s likely to be a while longer before the company is ready to officially launch what it’s been working on, however.
That’s according to a new “Disengagement Report” which covers the period December 2017 through November 2018. It refers to instances in which self-driving vehicles being tested on California roads had to pass control back to the human driver behind the wheel.
Apple’s self-driving car development could be headed for a cliff. Maybe. A questionable report from industry analysts says that there are layoffs in this division and the whole project might even be scrapped.
The cause is supposedly the slowdown in iPhone sales caused by the weakening Chinese economy. The reduction in revenue leaves less room for non-core programs.
A car designed to test Apple’s self-driving system was involved in a minor accident Monday, but a human was driving at the time. This is only the second such crash of an Apple car on record.
Google, and its autonomous vehicle spinoff Waymo, haven’t been so lucky over the years.
Apple’s fleet of self-driving cars is expanding at an astonishing pace after starting with just three vehicles a year ago.
New records posted by the California Department of Motor Vehicles reveals that Apple currently has the third largest number of autonomous cars in the state, but it’s closing the gap on the Google’s self-driving car project that holds the number two spot.
This week on The CultCast: Alex Jones and free speech, Part 2. Plus: Ming-Chi Kuo says the Apple Car is real, and you might drive it off the lot in 2023! And stay tuned for our most-loved tech! We’ll discuss the gadgets and apps we can’t go without.
Doug Field, a former Vice President of Mac Hardware Engineering at Apple, has returned to the company after spending several years at Tesla.
The interesting part? At Tesla, Field was employed as the Vice President of Vehicle Programs with a role overseeing development of new electric vehicles for the company. Now that he is back at Apple, he is reportedly working as part of the “Project Titan” Apple Car group.
The former Apple employee arrested for allegedly stealing plans for the Apple Car has pleaded not guilty to his charge.
Xiaolang Zhang was indicted on one single charge of trade secret theft. He’s accused of stealing a 25-page blueprint for a circuit board for Apple’s autonomous vehicle.
An Apple employee who downloaded blueprints for its self-driving car circuit board and then attempted to flee with them to China has been arrested.
Xiaolang Zhang supposedly told Apple of his plans to join a Chinese self-driving car startup, Xiaopeng Motors, shortly before booking his flight. He was arrested on July 7 after going through the security gates at San Jose airport.
In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: The public beta of iOS 12 is out now, so anyone can download it and install it on their device. But what does the new version of iOS actually do? Apple introduced Screen Time, the great new Do Not Disturb, and the powerful Siri Shortcuts at the WWDC 2018 keynote in June. But until you dig into them, you won’t have an idea how great these new features are, along with many more.
You’ll find that story and more in this issue. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.
Apple has recruited popular science YouTuber Mark Rober to work as part of its top secret special projects group, developing a VR on-board entertainment system for self-driving cars.
Rober has been working with Apple for the past several years, although he has kept news of Apple’s identity secret. In a Reddit AmA, he described it as a “large tech company in the Bay Area.” His name was revealed as part of several patent applications Apple has recently filed.
Apple still hasn’t publicly announced its plans when it comes to autonomous cars. However, in the meantime it continues to grow its fleet of self-driving test cars — which are now the second largest in the state of California.
At present, Apple has 55 self-driving vehicles that it is testing on public roads. That’s up from just three in April 2017, little over one year ago. In March this year, that number was at 45. Apple lags only behind GM Cruise, which has 104 test vehicles on the road.
Apple had another meeting with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) about autonomous vehicles last month. The April 2 meeting came not at the request of Apple, but instead the DMV.
Apple hasn’t yet publicly announced its interests in building a self-driving car, but its research in this area is continuing to speed ahead — with Apple receiving now having more permits to test in California than both Tesla and Uber.
From 27 permits only a few months ago, Apple today has 45 permits to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in California. By comparison, Tesla has 39 and Uber has 29.
Uber’s self driving car program in Arizona has suffered a fatal setback after one of its autonomous vehicles hit and killed a female pedestrian.
The woman was crossing the street in Tempe around 10pm last night but wasn’t using a cross walk when the accident occurred.
Volkswagen’s top designer is looking to Apple for some design inspiration
Apple abandoned its plan to build its own car from the wheels up, but car fans might still see some Apple-inspired autos hitting highways by 2020. not be making its own car anymore, but you might still see some Apple-inspired cars on the road by 2020.
Apple is revving up its efforts to catch its competitors in the self-driving car market.
The company has aggressively expanded its fleet of vehicles used to test its autonomous driving systems, according to a new filing that shows the company added nine times as many cars over the last year.
Apple is investigating new ways to make self-driving care systems drive more like humans, based on a recent patent filing from the iPhone-maker.
The USPTO finally published Apple’s first patent application related to autonomous vehicle systems today, giving some insight into the strategies Apple might use to make its mark in the emerging self-driving car market.
The self-driving sensors that power Apple’s autonomous car have gotten a significant update since the last time we saw them.
Apple’s self-driving car was recently spotted by the CEO of a self-driving car start-up called Voyage. Co-founder MacCallister Higgins got up close with one of Apple’s Lexus RX450h’s that’s outfitted with a monstrous new sensor array. The short video posted to Twitter shows Apple’s project has made some serious strides in the last few months.
Check it out:
This week on The CultCast: Even more juicy details leak on iPhone 8, plus a report says Apple’s keynote reveal is right around the corner. Plus: There’s a strange twist in Apple’s autonomous car project; why the 13-inch MacBook Pro might soon get a lot more horsepower; and stick around for an all-new storytime, where we’ll tell you what it’s like inside the eerie darkness of a total solar eclipse.
Apple’s secretive “Project Titan” self-driving car project has reportedly switched gears, transforming into an effort to build a self-driving shuttle bus. Called Palo Alto to Infinite Loop, or PAIL, the shuttle would carry Apple employees between buildings.
The project may serve as a test bed for Apple’s autonomous car research. But a customer-focused vehicle built by Apple is for now reportedly out of the question. Instead, Apple’s self-driving technology will likely be used by other carmakers eventually.
Apple spent a whopping $2.94 billion on research and development last quarter, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Apple R&D spending represents an increase of 6 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
While Apple keeps its plans close to its chest, it invests a tremendous amount of money on research and development to create the products we’ll be buying a year or more from now.
Apple may be working on a car after all. A partnership between Apple and China’s biggest battery manufacturer is all about developing an electric car battery, according to a new report.
Apple was long rumored to be working on an autonomous vehicle under the code name Project Titan. But recent signals from Cupertino made it look like the tech company was downshifting its automotive ambitions, focusing on software rather than building an actual electric car.
Apple’s foray into autonomous cars could eventually put rental car companies out of business, but for now, Apple Car rumors are doing wonders for Hertz which just saw its stock price skyrocket thanks to some new rumors.
Tim Cook has shared some details on Apple’s electric car plans, describing self-driving cars as “the mother of all AI projects.”
“We’re focusing on autonomous systems,” Cook said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, which was conducted on June 5, but only published online today. “It’s a core technology that we view as very important … It’s probably one of the most difficult A.I. projects actually to work on.”
The first video footage of Apple’s self-driving car has already surfaced on the internet, just over a month after the company first received permission to drive on public roads.
Apple’s self-driving car is actually a Lexus RX450h outfitted with sensors powered by Apple’s own autonomous driving software. Video of the car in action reveals Apple’s project is already highway-worthy as the company races to catch up to its competition.
Watch it cruise the road with ease:
