Apple Gives Up On Building Its Own Car

It appears that the prospect of Apple developing its own car has died. Could the entire Apple Car project come to a quick end?

Since the first rumors of Apple developing its own car, skeptics have wondered if it was more than the tech giant could handle. If a report from Bloomberg is true, all those skeptics were correct. It would be a sad end of a much-hyped project.

According to the Bloomberg report, Apple has given up on the idea of building its own car. They have also demanded that a feasibility study be done on the technology to see if there is any part of the project can be saved.

Earlier this year it was reported that Apple had shifted focus from a car to a self-driving vehicle. Another staff shake-up indicated the change in direction for the “Titan” project. The possibilities of Apple purchasing McLaren reignited the Apple Car talk.

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Since those reports were shot down, there has been silence around the Apple Car project. It has long been speculated that Apple got in over their heads trying to design their own car. The potential purchase of McLaren would have dismissed those concerns.

Now with the reports of large portions of the Apple Car staff being reassigned, leaving, or being let go, the end seems near. The technology behind the self-driving project might be the only remnants of the project that survives.

Apple has a good relationship with car makers on the technology side with Car Play. If Apple is able to develop a successful self-driving system, they may be able to license it to carmakers. It would save the traditional car makers millions in development costs if an advanced system could be licensed and used in production vehicles.

With all the time and monies spent on the development of the Apple Car, it would be hard to define any success out of solely a licensing contract. It does put Apple back in their wheelhouse though of developing technology. The car development was always the question.

According to the report, the developers at Apple have been given until late next year to prove the technology. Between now and then we will see if anything comes of the once ambitious project. There is even a chance the project just fades away.

As a long time Apple user and fan, I was surprised with the talk of an Apple Car. I never really saw a positive outcome from Apple as hard as I tried. These reports today are almost exactly what I feared was going to come. Building a car is very hard, and I think they underestimated that.

Maybe we will all be amazed by the self-driving technology they end up releasing. Unless it is truly revolutionary, the Apple Car project will always be deemed an utter failure. The scope of which Apple has never experienced.

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