Apple has been developing their own self-driving electric car for the past two years under Project Titan. Initially they reportedly wanted to work with Hyundai before the Korean automotive giant pulled out because it refused to be just a manufacturer. Since then the Apple Car project has reportedly been plagued with software issues, the final design, and the intended self-driving system.
According to Mark Gurman who reported on Bloomberg this morning, the Apple car project has now been postponed to 2026 due to various challenges faced. Gurman said that in addition to being delayed to 2026 from the original date of 2024, the Apple Car will not have fully self-driving features when launched. Instead it will be limited to highway use only. Users can watch videos and enjoy video games when self-driving mode is activated.
Another change is that the steering wheel and control pedals will be included once. Previously there were reports that while Sir Jony Ive was still involved with Project Titan he did not want these two components to be included. Another thing is that Apple Car will use Apple's own silicon chip to control the vehicle without relying on other chips such as NVIDIA Drive Orin.
There are predictions from analysts that the first Apple Car will be sold at a premium price of around $100,00 apiece. Self-production of cars is a trend that some manufacturers of smart devices are doing. Xiaomi and Sony have already announced their own projects while Samsung has only shown the concept of a smart vehicle cockpit but has offered a dedicated chip for the car's infotainment system, a battery for Hyundai and is testing a self-driving system.
