self-driving car

Apple Watch software chief tapped to drive Apple Car project

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Apple executive Kevin Lynch
Apple has tapped Apple Watch software chief Kevin Lynch to run the Apple Car project.
Photo: Apple

On the heels of Apple VP Doug Field’s departure as chief of the Apple Car project for a role at Ford, Cupertino has named longtime Apple Watch software head Kevin Lynch its new exec in charge of Project Titan. That’s the code name for the company’s self-driving electric car effort.

Key employee exits Apple’s secret car project

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Benjamin Lyon‘s dream led him from Apple Car to outer space.
A long-time Apple engineer and manager left the Apple Car project to work on space tech.
Photo: Mihai Paraschiv/Pixabay CC

Benjamin Lyon left Apple after being with the company for 21 years. He worked on a variety of products, but most recently he’d been a senior director in the team working on the Apple Car.

But he’s going to go be a rocket engineer instead.

Apple calls alleged self-driving car spies flight risks

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Courthouse
Apple told a federal court that ex-employees shouldn’t be trusted to visit China after being arrested for stealing secrets from an autonomous car project.
Photo: Brett Sayles/Pexels CC

Apple thinks that two men accused of stealing secrets from its mysterious self-driving car project are likely to flee the country if they aren‘t closely watched.

Despite the drama surrounding their arrests, what makes this case most interesting is that it absolutely confirms that Apple has a self-driving car in development.

Apple’s self-driving car sports sleek new sensor array

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Apple car
Apple's self-driving car looks really good.
Photo: The Last Driver License Holder.

Apple made a big update to the design of the sensor array that powers the autonomous functions on its self-driving fleet of cars.

Some eagle-eyed observers in the Cupertino area spotted the new array a couple of times over the last month or so. Instead of having LiDAR and camera sensors mounted on a rack around the car, Apple’s gearheads created a system that’s entirely enclosed. And it looks like they’ve ditched LiDAR in the process.

Watch Apple’s whip drive down the streets of Cupertino.

Apple’s self-driving car fleet gets downsized

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Project Titan
Apple is invested heavily in self-driving tech.
Photo: Idiggapple/Twitter

Apple’s fleet of self-driving cars has gotten smaller for the first time since the project’s inception.

In a recent filing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Apple revealed that both its number of cars and drivers permitted to test them have decreased since that company’s last report at the end of 2018.

Noted analyst lists four ways that 5G will be a huge win for Apple

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No matter what your AT&T iPhone says, everyone else says “5G E” is 4G.
Apple has years to get a real 5G iPhone on the market, according to a well-known analyst.
Photo: Cult of Mac/@Siddavarapu

The faster cellular data networks being rolled out now will bring tremendous benefits to Apple, according to a well-known industry analyst. Gene Munster even said today, “Apple will be one of 5G’s biggest beneficiaries.”

He listed a number of current and future products that will see gains from this nascent wireless tech.

Chinese worker allegedly caught stealing Apple self-driving car secrets

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Project Titan
Apple is invested heavily in self-driving tech.
Photo: Idiggapple/Twitter

Another alleged Chinese spy has been caught apparently trying to steal secrets from Apple’s mysterious self-driving car project.

The FBI reportedly arrested a Chinese national working for Apple the day before he planned to fly back to China with thousands of files on his laptop, including Apple’s intellectual property. He was reportedly planning to take all the info to a Chinese electric car manufacturer.

Apple’s second-generation mapping vehicles spotted in the wild

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apple maps
The new Apple Maps vehicle spotted in LA.
Photo: BusinessInsider

Apple’s fleet of vehicles used to gather data for Apple Maps appears to have gotten a significant upgrade and it could help make Apple Maps even better.

People in the Los Angeles area have spotted a second-generation version of Apple’s mapping vehicles in the wild. Unlike the previous version, these cars aren’t vans, as Apple has opted to use Subaru SUVs instead.

Ex-Apple engineers pave the way for next-gen self-driving car sensors

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Aeva
It's like a Lidar crossed with an iPod.
Photo: Aeva

Apple still hasn’t publicly revealed whether it’s working on an autonomous car, but a company started by former Apple engineers certainly is.

Opening up about its plans, startup Aeva has revealed that it is building a smart sensor that will help self-driving cars make sense of the world. And, from its sleek design to its mix of hardware and software magic, it totally looks like the kind of product Apple would design and make!