You got iOS jumper cables?... Someone at Apple does. Tim Cook is reportedly building a ridiculously techy personal automobile, according to Reuters. It's a shocker, because Apple's first car attempt, "Project Titan" (bold name), began in 2014 and crashed in 2019. Here's the update:
- When can iDrive?: Apple's reportedly targeting 2024.
- What's so special about it?: The battery. Apple's game-changing juice will last longer and charge faster.
- Who builds it: Not Apple. Just like iPhones, which are made by Chinese manufacturing giant Foxconn, Apple would likely outsource manufacturing (TBD to who).
Apple's a $2T company... so rumors of an Apple car in four years didn't budge the stock. But Apple's apparently going to buy Lidar sensors to make this thing self-driving. This would be a dream deal for Lidar companies Velodyne and Luminar — their stocks jumped 23% and 27% as investors fantasized about which could get Apple's rose.
Car-making measures time in years... Apple is the richest company in the world, with more cash on hand than many countries. But the average car includes 30K parts. Even if Apple's magically simple design can cut that in half, this is more complex than adding an 8th camera to an iPhone 14. It's usually five to 10 years between starting a car design and getting it mass produced for the road. Never forget: It took Tesla 17 years to find its first profit.