The disappearance of of Apple, Inc AAPL The self-driving car has generated stories about what went wrong, and on Sunday, so did those from Bloomberg Marco Gumann provide some insight into what an Apple car would look like.
Huge disappointment: When Apple began planning to diversify its revenue stream beyond the iPhone in 2014, it focused on an electric vehicle, Gurman said in the latest installment of his weekly “Power On” newsletter. For Cupertino, it was a perfect opportunity to enter a “category ripe for disruption that could be transformed with an intelligent combination of hardware, software and services,” she said.
“The company could design the coolest car on the road, develop its own underlying operating system, and sell additional services, such as self-driving capabilities, Apple Music, and TV+ video streaming.”
Indecision and disagreement, technological challenges and the “harsh reality” of the automotive industry all played a role in the failure of the project, which, according to Gurman, is a “huge disappointment that will change the course of the company’s history, perhaps for decades to come.”
The main disagreement revolved around which strategy to pursue, including things like the specific gadgets inside the car and the degree of autonomy, he explained. The columnist said that no other category could increase Apple’s revenue like a car could.
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How Apple Car evolved: Gurman also provided insights into the discontinued Apple car based on information he had gathered.
“It would excite consumers and stand out in an increasingly crowded electric vehicle market,” he said.
The 2020 Apple car design resembled an electric vehicle startup Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle, Gurman said, adding that it looked like a futuristic van with rounded edges and dark black windows with adjustable tinting.
“There was an all-glass sunroof, a pure white exterior, and whitewall tires with a black center. The front and rear were identical, so it would always look like I was driving forward. It looked like no other mass-produced vehicle and was optimized for level 5 autonomous driving,” he said.
The interior, the columnist said, evolved several times, but the general idea was “a minimalist interface, combined with seats you would normally see on a private jet or limousine.”
“Inside, it felt like we were essentially in a ‘contoured bubble,’” he said.
The car could comfortably seat four people, with seats that could move between regular chairs, recliners and footrests, he added.
Gurman noted that most of Apple’s car designs included a giant TV in the center to show video and handle FaceTime, while some variants added iPad-sized displays suspended from the roof for access to frequent controls.
Among the design variations were:
- A drawing by Jony Ive it looked like a 1950’s Volkswagen microbus, nicknamed “Bread Loaf” internally.
- A second version that looked almost like the 2017 Volkswagen ID Buzz prototype. (This project, the columnist said, was shown inside Apple well before the German automaker announced the concept, and that may not have been a coincidence, he said. He noted that some employees of the Apple automotive group, who left the company, joined Volkswagen in mid-2010.)
- A third variant kept the same general design, but had a much more dramatic front, like a downward-pointing wedge.
- A fourth version that looked more like the Canoo. (This was new excitement for the project in 2020, with Tim Cook and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams so impressed with the design that they gave a speech at Apple’s test track in Arizona and pledged to move forward with development, Gurman said.)
- A variation of the original “Pane di Pane” idea but with gull-wing doors replacing the van’s sliding door, as seen on Tesla Model
When Apple finally decided to move from autonomy level 5 to level 2, it was forced to add back the steering wheel and pedals, as well as front and rear windows, Gurman said. The final version of the car had two forward-facing seats that could rotate, he added.
“It is unfortunate that these projects will be lost to time. I think they would excite buyers, even if they weren’t always practical,” Gurman said.
Apple closed Friday’s session up 1.02% to $170.73according to Benzinga Pro data.
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