The iPhones are not the only products consumers are keeping an eye on Apple for. The well-established tech giant has long been known to be working on a car of its own, something Apple likes to call the Project Titan, but to us more humble people, is known as the iCar or Apple Car. That’s right, the late Steve Jobs’ company is expanding to our roads, and not just through navigation systems, but a fully functioning car. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is speeding up the development process on its car, aiming for a 2019 release. That seems far away, but we’re much likely to see a functioning prototype much sooner than that.
The ramp-up in development speed makes total sense, since Google is known to be working on a similar project as well. Naturally, the long-time rivals will set a precedent for future companies looking to invest in developing their own cars. The question arises – What does Google or Apple have that the current, existing automotive manufacturers don’t? Fair question, indeed. Well, the end-game for Apple is to provide a self-driving, fully automated car, which is something people have been dabbling with in the past, but have failed at. The best we’ve got right now (at least as far as cars approved for national roads go) are cars that can park themselves or are equipped with sensors that detect things such as the distance to the vehicle in front, and slow down accordingly in the event of a potential impact. Impressive, for sure, but not quite the “drive-itself” car we’ve seen in science fiction flicks.
That being said, the report reveals that Apple will be tripling its current team of 600 experts working on the project, a team that already employs industry specialists. True enough, it also shows that the first car to be pushed out by Apple won’t be completely capable of driving itself, but this aspect remains an end-game for the company and should follow in the coming years. While Project Titan still lies shrouded by mystery, one thing is certain – Apple is investing heavily into the automotive aspects of its technology, and meetings with Californian officials have been taking place.
