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Category: Apple Car

  • Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo points towards possible Apple Car launch in 2025 at the earliest

    If you were hoping for an Apple Car in the next few years, you might have to wait a bit longer.

    Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that the Apple Car could arrive at any point before 2025, warning that many elements are still being worked on.

    A December supply chain report has claimed that a number of Taiwanese car part factories were rushing shipments to Apple for a potential launch in September 2021. The report was considered unlikely, and lacked hard-defined specifications of the vehicle to the perceived short lead time for what’s considered an enormous project.

    In a recent note to investors, Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities warns against believing the hype surrounding the report, which has helped push up the value of “concept stocks” for companies supposedly linked to Apple’s vehicular efforts. The buying of the shares in the related companies is a “knee-jerk reaction that could be short-lived,” with Kuo suggesting there are at least three reasons why investors shouldn’t do so right now.

    Within the report, Kuo has stated that the “current development schedule of Apple Car is not clear.” If it were to start in 2020 and if “everything goes well,” the potential launch for a self-driving car could be between 2025 and 2027, by the firm’s reckoning.

    “Due to changes in the EV/self-driving market and Apple’s high quality standards, we would not be surprised if Apple Car’s launch schedule is postponed to 2028 or later,” Kuo writes.

    Specifications and suppliers in reports and rumors are “only speculations by the market and do not involve actual Apple Car suppliers,” according to the note. It’s also thought that the “still evolving” nature of the technical specifications makes it “too early to talk about the final specs” prior to the product’s projected launch.

    TF Securities cited that “the key success factor for Apple Car is not hardware, but big data/AI,” an area that Apple has “not demonstrated significant” competitive advantages for in its existing products.

    In spite of the 2021 launch claim, other analysts offered their opinions as to the Apple Car release date. These opinions have largely centered around “next-level” monocell battery designs in a car due in 2024.

    The Apple Car project, formerly known as “Project Titan,” has ranged from self-driving vehicle systems to car design. Apple’s efforts seem to be revolving around an electric car design, though the hiring of experts and acquisition of startups suggest it could incorporate a number of other technologies.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider

  • Rumor: Apple working with chip supplier TSMC to develop “self-driving chip” for Apple Car project

    While there hasn’t been a ton of Apple Car news of late, a recent rumor through the supply chain has stated that Apple is said to be in “preliminary cooperation negotiations” with well-known automotive electronics suppliers as it continues to hire new employees from Tesla and other manufacturers. Apple is working with “upstream and downstream” electronics suppliers to ensure that it meets current regulations.

    The current discussions have been likened to a “request for quotation” model, wherein Apple details its requirements and asks for pricing and other details from vendors.

    Apple is also said to be working to establish a factory in the United States, and it’s thought that there’s currently a production plan in place with preliminary technology specifications.

    Apple chip supplier TSMC is also said to be working with Apple on a “self-driving chip” at an R&D plant. TSMC is apparently collaborating with STMicroelectronics to further develop gallium nitride (GaN) technology that will be used in hybrid car converters and chargers that are thought to be related to the Apple Car project.

    Apple is rumored to be en route to unveil an Apple Car in 2024 to 2025, sources in the supply chain having compared the model as “similar to Tesla.”

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and DigiTimes

  • “CarKey” API in iOS 13.4 developer beta hints at your iOS device functioning as your car key

    Your iPhone or Apple Watch could become your car key in the relatively near future.

    A group of developers has just studied the first beta version of iOS 13.4, and noted references to a “CarKey” API, which will make it possible to use the iPhone and also the Apple Watch to unlock, lock, and start a car. According to the system’s internal files, users will be able to use CarKey in NFC-compatible cars, as they only need to hold the device near the vehicle to use it as a key.

    It also seems that it won’t be necessary to authenticate via Face ID, a similar technique to what’s being done with Express Transit Cards:

    To use CarKey, hold iPhone or Apple Watch to reader. It will work automatically, without requiring Face ID. You can change express mode settings in Wallet.

    If so, the device and the car can be paired through the Wallet app, which might then be confirmed via the car manufacturer’s app to proceed with the setup. Users could be able to place the device, such as an iPhone, atop the NFC reader in the car during the initial process, and then CarKey will be available in the Wallet app. After that, the key can easily be added to Apple Watch.

    It’s also thought that the CarKey feature could be shared with other users, such as family members. Invitations could be sent through the wallet app to access the car key on their own Apple devices:

    %@ invited you to use their %@ with unlock access. This allows you to use your iPhone and Apple Watch to unlock/lock the car.

    It’s also been noted that Apple is working with some car manufacturers to implement the CarKey feature, although this won’t be available until CarKey 13.4 if officially released to the public.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac

  • Recent Apple patent points towards device location technology for use with Project Titan vehicles

    Apple’s self-driving car project looks to be developing a device location system for vehicles.

    Per Patently Apple, a recently-published patent related to Apple’s ongoing Project Titan effort discusses a mobile device location system that’s in the works:

    In this Project Titan granted patent, Apple notes that passengers in vehicles may carry mobile devices into the vehicles. Once inside, a passenger may place the mobile device at a location inside the vehicle cabin. Occasionally, the mobile device may move, fall onto the floor, or slide into a location on the vehicle that is difficult to see or access. As a result, mobile devices are often lost inside vehicles. Current methods for locating a mobile device in a vehicle require some degree of manual intervention, which can be tedious and cumbersome.

    This points to an easier way to find your device after it’s gone into the recesses of your Apple Car, once the vehicle hits the market. Not a bad thing, especially when your iPhone goes between the seat and the console and you have next to no idea how to hoist it out.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer and Patently Apple

  • Recent patent hints at radar system embedded into bodywork of Apple’s self-driving car

    The Apple Car may not be on the market for a while, but a recently published patent application shows how Apple may be embedding a radar system of sorts within the bodywork.

    Per AppleInsider:

    In Apple’s design, it suggests the use of antennas to transmit a radar beam towards a portion of a field of view, along with a vertical antenna array to receive the bounced-back signal. The receive antenna array can consist of multiple antenna elements grouped into sub-arrays, with each sub-array used to receive scatter signals reflected back at it from a smaller subsection of the field of view. Circuitry is then used to combine the received scatter signals from the antenna array into a combined scatter signal, which is then digitized. A second horizontal receive array performs a similar job, again with sub-arrays and the same process. A signal processor is then used to process the scatter signals from both vertical and horizontal arrays, and to correlate the data from each to give effectively a 3D radar layout.

    Thus, a fairly effective radar system, which can be used for navigation, collision avoidance, or any number of useful features.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer, AppleInsider, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office