Reinventing the wheel is no easy task, and it seems Apple has learned this lesson on its own. According to specialized industry sources, the autonomous vehicle being developed by the company, known under the code name Titan and colloquially as Apple Car , has suffered setbacks during its development that could have resulted in a delay, as well as a change. vision for the overall project.
Going into details, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shared what his internal sources at Apple have told him about the project, and it all points to the fact that due to the obstacles suffered, the company pushed the car’s target release date to 2026 . This is an additional year compared to the original plan.
The car’s delay is just the tip of the iceberg and the consequence of a much bigger change made to the project. In this sense, the source indicates that Apple’s vision of a fully autonomous car without a steering wheel or pedals is unrealistic with current technology . The company’s top executives are well aware of this and have decided to step on the brakes on the current approach to focus on a more feasible, but naturally less ambitious vision.
The Apple Car will change your approach significantly
As a result, the plan now involves a car with pedals, a steering wheel, and self-driving capabilities limited to roads and highways . In this sense, that long-awaited level 5 autonomy for cars remains elusive even for the most veteran manufacturers in the automotive industry, so it is not a surprise that Apple has run into the same obstacles.
Be that as it may, the Apple Car still looks like a promising proposition, but with its feet – or in this case tires – on the ground. It is said that the vehicle will have a very complete infotainment system to enjoy movies, series and video games during road trips. When there is something that demands the user’s attention, such as arriving in the city, bad weather or traffic jams, it will switch to manual control, but not before without alerting the driver in advance.
As if that weren’t enough, the heart of the car’s on-board computer system will have a processor with performance equivalent to Apple’s highest-end quad-chip Mac. Supposedly the chip has reached an advanced state and is almost ready for production.
Lastly, the company had a $120,000 price tag in mind for the car, but according to new reports, they are now aiming to lower the RRP to $100,000 . Be that as it may, we’re still years away from the official prototype reveal, so we suggest taking what has been said so far with a grain of salt.