Summary.Apple has abandoned its plans to enter the automotive industry with its mysterious self-driving electric car and instead turned its focus to the popular field of generative AI. For the project, the company hired high-profile executives from companies such as Tesla and Ford. Its end has led to the loss of some employees, while others have changed departments within the company.From Airpower to abandoned tablets, Apple's path to success has been marked by failures.
The so-called Titan program has reportedly been underway since 2014. Considering Apple's history of disrupting various markets, this could be a tough competition for Tesla and others. Apple has done this on the iPod, iPhone, Apple Watch, and more recently AirPods (the jury is still out on the Vision Pro).
But not every project has been an exciting success. Prior to Project Titan, several of Apple's efforts had failed to see the light of day. Here are some of the projects that Apple has not listed.
The Apple Car That Never Became: A Timeline.
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Not all examples come from the distant past. The wireless charging mat, first released by Apple in 2017, is expected to use the Qi standard to charge up to three devices at a time. However, the company canceled the project in 2019, citing a failure to meet high standards. In 2020, Apple replaced the AirPower with its foldable travel charger, the MagSafe Duo. But unlike the AirPower Pad, MagSafe Duo only supports charging two devices at the same time: iPhone and Apple Watch or iPod.
Apple's TV (not to be confused with Apple TV) is another project that has been rumored for a long time but has not been able to materialize. Back in 2011, analysts and investors expected the company to launch a full-fledged UHD TV set. Like Project Titan, Apple never publicly disclosed its existence until reports of its scrapped a few years ago.
Apple had already designed a prototype of an early tablet 15 years before the first iPad was introduced. In 1994, some early images of the project surfaced online, suggesting that it was exploring the addition of a stylus and built-in camera. However, as former Apple executive Dan Russell said in a 2018 blog post, Apple stifled the project because there was no market for tablets at the time.
Vdemecum isn't Apple's only failed desktop design attempt. Around the same time, the company was also working on a Newton OS-based project called Messageslate (codenamed Senior). The trademark application for the device appeared in 1993. However, Apple abandoned it and later that year released MessagePad, a small version of the Messageslate prototype.
Long before the iPhone came out, Apple tested a model codenamed Wa.l.t.Mac**. It appears to have a touchscreen panel with stylus support and includes features such as fax and caller ID. Some early wa.l.t.It even appeared at auction on eBay. However, Apple has never discussed the device publicly.
In 1992, Apple was working on another tablet. The PenLite appears to be based on System 7, the first version of the Macintosh operating system designed by Apple for PowerPC1。There are reports that the phone will come with a stylus and a 25MHz Motorola processor. Unlike Vademeum, Penlite reportedly does not have a camera in development. Apple eventually abandoned the project as well. Just like the later equipment, the company believes that the market is not ready.
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