Mar 12, 2024 12:00:00

It is revealed what the design of the automatic driving car that Apple was developing was like

It was

reported at the end of February 2024 that the self-driving car development project that Apple has been developing for a long time has finally been cancelled. Various rumors have been reported about Apple's self-driving car, but a Bloomberg report has revealed what kind of exterior design was planned.

What Did the Apple Car Look Like? Inside Apple's Planned Self-Driving Vehicle - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-03-10/what-did-the-apple-car-look-like-inside-apple-s-planned-self-driving-vehicle-ltlic8vt

Apple has started a self-driving car development project in order to diversify its revenue and secure a new revenue source beyond the iPhone. At the time, the automotive market, especially the field of self-driving technology, was seen as the next hot market for Silicon Valley. This was because with the rise of companies like Tesla, cars were essentially becoming computers on wheels.

However, Apple's self-driving car development project was ultimately canceled due to management indecision, disagreements among leaders, technical challenges, and the cold realities of the auto industry. Apple CEO Tim Cook and his management team had different opinions on what strategy to pursue, including whether to manufacture cars in the first place. In addition, it seems that opinions continued to differ regarding the details of individual devices inside the car. The biggest point of contention seems to have been ' what level of automated driving system to develop'.

The interior of Apple's self-driving car was designed to comfortably accommodate four people, with a design similar to that found in private jets and limousines. In addition, it seems that an interior design with a huge monitor installed in the center where you can play videos and FaceTime, and an interior design where an iPad-sized display could be hung from the ceiling were also proposed. In addition, a special air conditioning system was also devised that forced air flow along the sides of the cabin.

The initial exterior design of Apple's self-driving car, devised by Jony Ive, resembles a modern reproduction of Volkswagen's microbus from the 1950s, and was apparently called the 'Bread Loaf' within Apple.

The design of the second self-driving car devised after that was almost the same as the Volkswagen ID bus prototype announced in 2017. In addition, this design seems to have been announced within Apple before Volkswagen announced the ID bus prototype.

The third self-driving car design announced around 2020 was a van with a rounded, futuristic design similar to electric car maker Canoo's

Lifestyle Vehicle . It was equipped with dark black windows with adjustable tint, the sunroof was all made of glass, and the exterior was apparently pure white. It had the same front and rear design, appeared to be constantly moving forward, and was planned to be equipped with Level 5 autonomous driving.

After that, the basic design of Apple's automatic driving car remained Bread Loaf, but it seems that minor changes were made, such as changing the door from a sliding door to a gull wing. Apple originally planned for a Level 5 autonomous driving system, but this was eventually lowered to Level 2.

According to Bloomberg, 'Apple was right to cancel its self-driving car development project to free up internal resources to focus on new generative AI capabilities. However, the cancellation of the project remains a huge disappointment and will likely continue in the future.' It will change Apple's history for decades.'

The chronology of Apple's self-driving car development project is summarized in the following article.

'Apple Car' development project chronology, from birth to failure - GIGAZINE