Apple typically doesn’t let any information slip
about upcoming products, but the Apple Car has been a huge exception. With the first rumor about
its development dating back to 2015. In fact, according to former senior vice president Tony
Fadell, Steve Jobs actually considered creating a car in 2008 but eventually decided against
it. Mainly due to the auto industry’s collapse during the economic downturn. But the automobile
landscape looks much different today. Mainly due to the success of electric vehicles like the
Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3. Also, Apple is in a much different position today. With more
than one-hundred billion dollars of cash on hand, which they could use to fund an ambitious
electric car project. And it appears as if they already have, according to some reliable
rumors over the past few years. So in this video, we’re going to find out what exactly Apple
has been working on, and what features we could expect to see from the rumored Apple Car.
This is Greg with Apple Explained, and I want to thank Squarespace for sponsoring this video. If
you’d like to help decide which topics I cover, make sure you’re subscribed and voting polls like
this one will appear in your mobile activity feed. Alright now Apple has been fairly open
about their efforts to build a car, which is very unusual for the most private tech
company in the world. And that’s mainly because they don’t really have a choice. The process of
designing, testing, and manufacturing a car is extremely complicated and requires regulatory
approvals that have to be made public. Even Tim Cook himself admitted to the development
of self-driving technology. Saying, “We’re focusing on autonomous systems. And clearly, one
purpose of autonomous systems are self-driving cars. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI
projects. It’s probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually to work on and so autonomy
is something that’s incredibly exciting for us, but we’ll see where it takes us.” So while Cook
didn’t explicitly admit that Apple’s making a car, he did admit to building self-driving technology.
And when you pair that admission to the rumors and leaks over the past five years, all signs
are pointing to Apple building their own car. So let’s explore all the features
we can expect from the Apple Car. The most important, and most difficult to
implement, is self-driving technology. Tesla has been the leader in this area for quite some time
now, but they still haven’t achieved 100% level 5 self-driving. They’ve opted to take a very gradual
and public approach to developing the technology. By slowly rolling out new autonomous features
like auto lane change and auto park over a long period of time. Eventually working their
way to 100% self-driving in the coming years. But Apple appears to be taking a different
approach. First, Apple wants level 5 full self driving to be available on their car from day
one. No betas, no gradual ramp in technology, just completely safe and reliable autonomous
driving that customers won’t have to worry about. Second, Apple’s using LiDAR sensors to give
the car superhuman vision. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed the technology long ago,
saying, “Anyone relying on LiDAR is doomed.” But no matter what type of sensor the Apple Car
utilizes, Apple is counting on it to deliver a driverless experience. In fact, some rumors have
even suggested the car may not have a steering wheel at all. Which is in line with early
prototypes designed by Jonathan Ive himself, where the interior featured wood
and leather, the car drove itself, and the passenger would control everything with
their voice through Siri. Instead of pressing buttons or turning dials. But this vision of
the Apple Car may not become a reality anytime soon. There are not only technical hurdles
to shipping a car without a steering wheel, but also regulatory restrictions
that would have to be negotiated. And obstacles like those are never welcome
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off your first purchase of a website or domain. Alright now another unique feature we’re excepted
to see is added to the Apple Car is a massive sunroof that can be configured into a number of
positions depending on the user’s preference. We’ve also seen patents for seats with haptic
feedback. Allowing the driver to be alerted of warnings like lane drifting without the need
for loud noises or visual cues that could disturb other passengers. Alongside haptic
feedback would be a dynamic seating system. Where certain characteristics of
the seat would change automatically depending on driving conditions. For example,
the seats may adjust to a safer position when traveling at high speeds. Or the seatbelts may
tighten right before an unavoidable collision. The headlights may have a special light
projection system that delivers more lighting to darker areas, and less light to
areas of the road that are already well-lit. When it comes to interior lighting, Apple is
expected to utilize their True Tone technology to adjust the temperature of the car’s lighting to
match the natural light from outside. The company has actually already implemented this technology
in their 5th Avenue retail store in New York City. The Apple’s Car’s windshield could feature
an anti-reflective layer of modulators that activate when glare is detected.
And its bumpers may be retractable, so that it can utilized a few extra inches of
protection against collisions when driving, but shrink down when trying to park into tight spaces.
There’re also rumors that Apple has developed a new type of monocell battery technology
that uses a lithium iron phosphate chemistry rather than the traditional lithium-ion.
This should allow for a more dense battery pack that delivers more range than competing
EVs, while also being less likely to overheat. But perhaps the biggest advantage of the Apple
Car will be its seamless integration with Apple’s ecosystem. Which has already proven to be in
very high demand due to the success of CarPlay. Apple’s in-car media system that gives users
access to their favorite apps like Apple Music, Messages, Podcasts, and Maps. But this is
just a small sample of what would be possible if Apple created their own car.
Not to mention plans to use AR to project helpful information onto
the windshield, like the car’s route or current speed. And motion sickness from passengers
using Apple devices in the car could be mitigated by measuring the discrepancy between the
car’s movement and the user’s movement. There are so many ways Apple could
improve the driving experience, especially if driving were no longer required
at all, and this has left many people wondering when we could expect the Apple Car to be
introduced. Based on the rumors so far, it looks like we’ll have to wait at least three
years. With the earliest estimate being 2024, and the latest being 2027. We don’t
know exactly how much the car will cost, although it is expected to be pricey at
around fifty to sixty-thousand dollars. So that is what you can expect from the Apple
Car. Thanks for watching until the end, don’t forget to subscribe to help decide what topics
I cover, and I’ll see you in the next video.
