Overseas media’s assumptions about Apple’s iCar in the Steve Jobs era
article | Leitech leitech
Some time ago, Apple announced that Apple’s self-driving car project, codenamed “Project Titan”, would be transferred to John Giannandrea, head of artificial intelligence business. Giannandrea, continues to advance the research and development of autonomous driving systems. At that time, some people believed that the system might eventually be used in Apple cars , and the research and development of Apple cars might have entered a new stage.
Recently, according to third-party supply chain sources on the Internet, Apple is currently promoting its vehicle manufacturing plan. Specifically, Apple has completed the testing of self-driving cars in California, and has asked many Taiwanese auto parts factories such as Heda Industrial, Bizlian-KY, Heqin Communications, and Tomita Electric to start preparing the necessary equipment for new products. parts, it is expected that the first Apple self-developed car, Apple Car, will be officially released as soon as September.
iCar imaginary picture
Apple Car has been expected by many consumers since it was exposed, believing that its products have the ability to compete with Tesla or even do better, but can it really respond to everyone's expectations? Let Xiao Lei take you through it today.
The connection between Apple and cars
In fact, as early as more than ten years ago, Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, had intended to launch automobile products. In 2014, rumors about Apple’s “Project Titan” car project began to circulate. At the end of 2015, Apple CEO Cook said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: "The automobile industry will undergo tremendous changes. The poor technical performance of traditional automobile manufacturers has left huge opportunities for companies such as Apple. "
In 2015, Apple also registered three car-related domain names, namely apple.car, apple.cars and apple.auto. At that time, almost everyone believed that there was no suspense for Apple to launch a car in the future, and it was likely to be launched within three years. As a result, Apple Car has been silent in the past three years, and no products have been released. Some people bluntly said that Apple may have given up its plan to build a car.
This year, things seem to have turned around. In the middle of this year, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty had predicted that Apple would invest US$19 billion in automobile research and development this year, equivalent to about 130 billion yuan. According to LinkedIn data, Apple has poached more than 500 Tesla employees to explore new electric vehicle solutions.
In addition, according to multiple whistleblowers such as Tianfeng International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple Car is expected to be released from 2023 to 2025. However, today, according to the Taiwan media Economic Daily, a number of key electric vehicle supply chain manufacturers have confirmed that Apple plans to release the first Apple Car in September next year, at least two years earlier than originally planned. In response to Apple Car stocking needs, Major manufacturers such as Heda Industrial and Bizlian Electronics have fully experienced orders.
Judging from all the current news, Apple is determined to enter the automobile market. If Apple really launches a self-developed electric vehicle two years in advance, I personally predict that the new energy vehicle industry will usher in a new round of great changes, and Apple fans can prepare in advance.
What will the Apple car look like?
Although various sources indicate that the Apple car is coming soon, for consumers, the concept of this product is still in the clouds. There is no actual product display and no relevant function introduction. Consumers know almost nothing about this product. What does an Apple car look like? Are there any unique features? What is the difference between this product and other electric vehicles? All kinds of doubts piled up in my heart, and I couldn't let go for a long time.
Fortunately, rumors related to Apple cars have been leaking out one after another in recent times, which allows us to get a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of Apple cars from these rumors. It’s important to note that these latest revelations are just a small part of a long-running series of Apple car rumors. Below, Xiao Lei will give a concise introduction to some of the “features” of Apple Cars.
- CarPlay platform
Speaking of Apple and cars, I think many people will think of the CarPlay platform at the first time. CarPlay is a car system released by Apple in the United States in 2014. It can seamlessly integrate the user's iOS device and iOS experience with the car dashboard system. Although it only has basic phone calls, navigation, music listening and information viewing functions, its practicality is comparable to the native car systems of most mainstream car brands on the market.
After six years of updates, the new CarPlay car system can provide more app categories including parking, electric vehicle charging and quick food ordering; the newly launched CarPlay Apple Map can also provide electric vehicle route planning functions , which can provide charging station instructions along the route based on the current power and charger type of the compatible vehicle; in addition, new wallpaper options, parking navigation, battery charging, electronic car keys and other functions are also officially implemented, Apple CarPlay Features are becoming increasingly rich.
Apple’s CarPlay platform ultimately has to serve itself. This is the integrated software and hardware experience that Apple has always pursued. Looking to the future, Apple will not only continue to upgrade CarPlay and Apple Maps, but will also very likely launch more extended functions and global services such as "car keys" to fully establish an Apple ecological car networking system and pave the way for the smooth development of Apple cars. The rollout paved the way.
- Autonomous driving
What is the hottest trend in the electric vehicle industry today? Many people will answer autonomous driving technology. Musk continues to boast about his Tesla's self-driving technology; Baidu has invested a lot of money to promote the Apollo self-driving car platform, hoping to find another way with the help of its core technology; Waymo, a subsidiary of Google , is currently open to the public They launched a fully self-driving taxi service in Chandler, Arizona; news about other technology companies collaborating with traditional car manufacturers to explore self-driving technology is not uncommon.
Apple also regards self-driving technology as a key research and development target, which can be seen from their decision to transfer the self-driving car project to John Giannandrea, head of artificial intelligence business. John Giannandrea is the former head of Google's search and AI business and is a core figure at Google. Artificial intelligence autonomous driving is exactly within the scope of his expertise. Apple's autonomous driving technology is worth looking forward to.
- New battery
According to supply chain revelations, the biggest known highlight of Apple Car is the battery technology developed by Apple itself. It is reported that Apple plans to use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the battery cathode material. Through a unique "single" battery design, the volume of a single cell in the battery will be increased, and by reducing the number of cell modules and the number of protective shells This method releases more internal space of the battery pack so that more active materials can be filled, thereby increasing the cruising range of the battery pack of the same volume.
The most criticized point of electric vehicles is their battery life. For many customers whose workplaces are far from home, ordinary electric vehicles can only meet the needs of commuting to work, and they need to be recharged when they return home. Apple needs to start with battery technology to allow cars to travel longer ranges. If the Apple car can travel 640 kilometers to 800 kilometers after being fully charged, it will be very competitive in the market.
- Wireless charging
Of course, just extending the driving range is not enough, Apple also needs to improve the charging experience. According to foreign media @AppleInsider, Apple applied for a wireless charging patent for electric vehicles last year. The document shows that Apple's car can park the vehicle through the steering and propulsion system, and the system automatically measures the sensor and optimizes the parking system. Once the car is parked, power can be transmitted from a transmitter in the parking area to a receiver connected to the body, enabling inductive charging.
When talking about electric cars, charging experience has always been an unavoidable topic. There are few charging stations and few charging piles. Every time you drive out, you always have to worry about what to do if your car runs out of power. This makes many electric car owners have a feeling. Charge anxiety and insecurity. Not only that, unlike traditional cars, electric cars not only need to wait for charging, but also always face situations such as parking spaces that cannot be charged, or unplugging while charging. The insecurity of charging arises spontaneously. Wireless charging can indeed be used to a certain extent. alleviate this anxiety to a certain extent.
Why did Apple choose to build a car now?
From one perspective, the current electric vehicle industry chain is approaching maturity, and the threshold for car manufacturing is declining year by year. Apple has always been good at design and bad at production. Not surprisingly, Apple Car also needs to find experienced foundries in the industry to cooperate. Nowadays, electric vehicles are not a new concept. With the maturity of industry technology, the continuous increase of talents, and the acceptance of consumer groups, producing electric vehicles is no longer as difficult as it was five years ago. The time for Apple to build cars has become mature.
On the other hand, iPhone sales have been declining year after year, causing Apple to face the urgent problem of de-iPhoneization. Apple has successively launched diversified product lines such as TV set-top boxes, smart speakers, and wireless headphones based on this consideration. Today, Apple's business scope includes all technology products, and electric vehicles have very conspicuous technological attributes, which coincide with Apple's needs and are also very consistent with the needs of Apple fans.
As the saying goes, never put all your eggs in one basket, and the launch of the Apple Car will hopefully give Apple much-needed diversification of its product line. Apple's previously launched Apple Watch and AirPods have done well and successfully dominated the market in specific categories. Can Apple Car dominate the rising blue ocean market of electric vehicles? Let's wait and see.
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