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In 2014, Apple launched the "Titan Project" and began to recruit automotive-related engineers, intending to enter the automotive industry. At that time, Tesla was emerging in the United States, and the domestic new energy vehicle market was also rising rapidly, so the outside world was full of expectations for Apple cars. However, after 10 years of development, the first Apple car has never been introduced, causing speculation about its internal problems.
In 2020, the news about the Apple Car project gradually showed that it had encountered some difficulties. According to the news, Apple has registered 69 test platforms, but only 23 are still active, and the proportion of project employees has also been significantly reduced. In 2021, Apple and Hyundai fell into a situation where negotiations on a joint project to produce cars were stalled, and the top brass of both sides expressed serious dissatisfaction with this. In the same year, there were rumors of the dissolution of the Apple Car team, and many executives and employees related to the project left. However, it is encouraging to note that in 2022, Apple reassembled its team and began to restart part of the work, showing that the Apple Car project is still struggling to overcome various setbacks.
The 2028 launch target may indicate that Apple realizes that it will not be able to launch Level 4 autonomous vehicles as planned. Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives realized the real challenges and decided to lower the target to Level 2, which is partially automated driving in certain driving modes. While this means that the Apple car may not be able to achieve autonomous driving without human intervention at all, it is also a compromise to cater to market needs and technological constraints.
In terms of autonomous driving technology, most new energy vehicles have only achieved partially automated driving at L2 to L3 levels, and L4 levels that do not require human intervention at all are still a huge challenge. As a technology giant, Apple hopes to make a breakthrough in this field, but Cook also knows that Apple is no longer the Apple of 20 years ago, and the existing technical strength is difficult to support them to completely skip the L2 and L3 levels and directly implement L4 or even L5 autonomous driving technology. Considering the need for commercialization and the urgency of the time, Apple decided to launch an L2 level product that meets the market demand.
Apple lowered its requirements for new energy vehicles, and is expected to launch its first product in 2028, which may be questioned and criticized by the outside world. However, this decision also allows Apple to focus more on achieving its goals and launch an L2 product in a limited timeframe. Although it will not live up to early expectations, Apple's entry into the automotive market will still attract some attention, and it is possible to gradually increase the degree of automation of products in future developments.
It has been 10 years since the beginning of the Apple Car project, and Apple's efforts and setbacks cannot be ignored. Under the pressure of technological constraints and market competition, Apple had to downgrade its R&D goals and postpone the release of its first car. While this decision may be controversial, it is a wise choice from a business perspective to allow Apple to focus more on launching a product that meets the needs of the market. In the future, Apple's development in the automotive field is still worth looking forward to, and we, as observers and users, also need to keep an open mind and look at Apple's automotive journey with a rational and objective attitude.
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