Apple Cancels Car Project

Darn, I was looking forward to driving an Apple Car someday.

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I feel bad for those who will lose their jobs, particularly given the large number of layoffs in the tech industry of late. But, as a consumer, I’m glad Apple is moving away from this project to focus more resources on AI. This is a wise strategic move in my estimation.

Apple has canceled all plans to release an autonomous, electric vehicle, reports *[Bloomberg]. Apple has been working on an Apple Car for more than a decade and invested millions of dollars into development before deciding it was not a viable project. Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams today told approximately 2,000 employees working on the ‌Apple Car‌ that the project was canceled, and the information reportedly came as a surprise.

Work on the ‌Apple Car‌ is winding down and many of the people that were working on the car will move to Apple’s artificial intelligence division to work on generative AI under AI chief John Giannandrea.

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They will still have a lot of irons in the fire. Apple Ponders Whether to Develop Smart Glasses, Fitness Ring.

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Agreed

Will Elon Musk admit that a truly autonomous car is not anywhere near practical?

Or will he never admit that because it means he would have to refund money to everyone who paid for a “full self driving” car

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He’s Elon - he’ll feel able (a) to admit it and. (b) refuse refunds because he obviously never promised whatever people said he promised

Maybe he should have built trucks.

Driverless 18-wheelers coming to Dallas

I don’t know, but I don’t want an autonomous car. I like driving, most of the time. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Apple doing a car project never made sense. Glad they’re coming to their senses.

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I used to like to drive, but now traffic is so bad it can take 15+ minutes to drive to a market one mile away. I’d buy an autonomous car, but I’d prefer using an autonomous Uber.

It always felt like an odd direction to move into for Apple, but I had more hope of self driving being a reality from Apple than from Tesla who are far too happy to market a self driving solution that mostly just destroys six-figure hardware and literally murders people.

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It would have had its downsides

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I road in a Tesla the first time yesterday when I hailed an Uber on a business trip. I did not like it. The ride was rough, and the road noise was much higher than my vehicle. It also felt cramped. But, a lot of people love them, which is the great thing about a free market economy. :slightly_smiling_face:

I’ve lost track of how many times Apple has allegedly cancelled the car project.

So long as they keep putting time into CarPlay I’m fine with this.

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Apparently they took all of the best engineers off the car project in order to make Macbook Pros awesome again. I am happy with this. :grinning:

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Was there ever any firm confirmation they were working on a car? This feels like a rumor that a rumored project is rumored to have been cancelled.

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Apple had hired some big names from other car companies, So those folks were working on something automotive for the last 10 years, or spending a lot of time in the cafeteria. :grinning:

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The quotes from Jeff Williams suggest it was real.

People and companies are coming to the realization (e.g. common sense) that electric vehicles are simply not viable for most people right now. Maybe for retirees, urban dwellers, or folks that don’t drive much, but for regular people, they simply don’t work. Their range stinks, reliability stinks, cost are expensive, even with government subsidies, and the infrastructure servicing and powering them is sadly lacking. Look at the EV market right how with lots full of unsold EVs. Maybe at some point in the future they will be viable for more people but right now they are not a good choice for the vast majority of people.

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I own a Tesla and think it is great, but I also realize it wouldn’t be good for certain circumstances. If I did a lot of cross country driving or lived in a place that got really cold in the winter, I wouldn’t own a Tesla as my only vehicle. I drove from Canada to NYC in November and I had to turn off all the heat to preserve energy until the next charging station. It was not pleasant and clearly shows the limitations of EVs. I normally don’t make this kind of trip so it’s fine for my circumstances. But if I had to do that drive regularly it would not be good.

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Based on the reading I’ve done about soft demand and the pullback in EV production by major manufacturers, the best use case for EVs seems to be as a commuter vehicle. The technology and infrastructure are not yet ready for widespread adoption. Hopefully, it will be in the not-too-distant future.

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You’re a persuasive guy…. Could you please do us a favor and call the folks in DC and tell them this. Because they appear to be plowing ahead without any consideration of the realities of the situation….