There are a lot of rumors that Apple has plans to enter the automotive market. But a report by Bloomberg says Apple had to lower its expectations.
Last year, reports indicated that Apple would launch a fully autonomous car in 2025, but now, the vehicle is delayed until 2026 and will not be autonomous.
Apple intended to build the first fully autonomous vehicle, without the need for a steering wheel or pedals. But, according to the report, engineers working on the project (known internally as Titan) no longer believe the vision is possible with current technology.
Apple has gone through several executive changes to the Titan team, which may have contributed to this delay. Last year, Ford Motor hired Doug Field, the engineering executive in charge of Apple’s special projects team. A few months earlier, other key members of the Titan project left the company.
Even companies with a long history in the automotive sector have struggled to realize the dream of autonomous driving. Tesla has striven to achieve this feat with its “fully autonomous driving” feature, which launched in beta in October 2020 and is now the subject of a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice.