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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 aims to build self-driving car with no steering wheel

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Apple reportedly wants to eliminate the steering wheel and pedals from its autonomous vehicle.
Apple reportedly wants to eliminate the steering wheel and pedals from its autonomous vehicle.
Photo: Samuele Errico Piccarini/Unsplash CC

Apple is reportedly committed to making a car capable of driving completely autonomously. The new head of the project won’t be satisfied with a vehicle with only limited capabilities.

The car might not need a steering wheel or pedals at all. And it could be on the road by 2025.

Top Apple car exec hits off-ramp, heads for Detroit instead

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That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Apple Car. The Apple Car is way down the highway. But Apple has the pedal to the metal.
The man reportedly running Apple car development has taken an exit.
Photo illustration: Cult of Mac/Wikipedia CC

Development of an Apple car just hit another speed bump. Doug Field, who’d reportedly been managing the project, just left to join the Ford Motor Company.

This is surely a blow to Apple’s secretive automotive efforts. And the company was already multiple years away from having anything to put in a showroom, according to the latest leaks.

Foxconn electric vehicle teamup makes it better fit for producing Apple Car

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Foxconn electric vehicle teamup with Fisker makes it a better fit for producing the Apple Car.
Fisker turned to Foxconn to product an electric vehicle. Apple might someday do the same.
Photo: Fisker

A deal between Foxconn and Fisker might eventually lead to Apple having its self-driving car produced by the same company that assembles iPhones.

Electric vehicle-maker Fisker agreed on Wednesday to team up with Foxconn to develop a “breakthrough electric vehicle.” Foxconn will manufacture the car.

Apple car might never need a driver

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Apple Car
You may someday ride in an Apple Car but you’ll never drive one. You’ll program it instead.
Photo: Torsten Dettlaff/Pexels CC

No one will ever drive an Apple car, according to leaked information. Apple is reportedly planning a vehicle that’s completely autonomous. It’ll be programmed, not driven.

That would make it less like what Tesla offers and more like what Alphabet’s Waymo is developing.

Cupertino poaches Porsche chassis expert for Apple car

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The Apple Car could be partially designed by a man who designed this Porsche.
A man who helped design this Porsche is allegedly now working on the Apple Car.
Photo: Porsche

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.