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Editorial: iCar or Apple moonshot?
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MacNN Staff
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There are a lot of rumors floating around that Apple is working on a car. While on one hand it may seem far-fetched, it is not beyond the realm of possibility. Apple works on lots of projects, many of which never see the light of day. There are a litany of Apple patents that have emerged over the years - of products or ideas that have not materialized as shipping products - that testify to this.
Even if Apple is working on a car it does not mean that it will make it to market, but it is quite possible that by-products of such an endeavor could easily make their way into future Apple products and services. An iCar might not be part of what Apple's core specialization is, but there are plenty of aspects where the technology in a car and its manufacture intersect with Apple's consumer-technology interests.
2010 iMove concept by Liviu Tudoran
It is no secret that Apple has extensive financial resources. It is also quite clear that Apple has dramatically boosted its research and development budget under the tenure of CEO Tim Cook. While an iCar could well be seen as a moonshot - an Apple equivalent of a Google X Lab project - it would make a lot of sense for Tim Cook to sign off on an iCar, even if it were nothing more than a R&D exercise. We know that Apple is very interested in cars, having made inroads into the automotive space courtesy of iOS in the car, better known as Apple CarPlay. Why would, or should, Apple's interest in cars stop at the dashboard? Reports that it has hired engineers from the likes of Tesla, and the recent reports of "mystery Apple vans" suggest that Apple's interest in cars does indeed go well beyond the infotainment system.
Apple "Mystery Van"
Modern cars are loaded with technology. If there is one tech company on the planet that could make this work better and more simply than others, it is Apple. An Apple technological platform that extended deep into the entire subsystem is one potential spin-off of an iCar R&D testbed. Apple's acquisition of PrimeSense, the company behind the original Xbox Kinect, has potential in this area that was not immediately apparent when Apple purchased the company. While ostensibly showing that Apple is interested in exploring motion control for computing interfaces, the PrimeSense acquisition could be used to develop a motion control interface within a car, while it could also be used to sense movement outside a vehicle to help its occupants avoid a crash.
Primesense motion tracking tech
Further, the materials used in the manufacture of an electric car such as metals, plastics, glass and battery technology, are all areas where Apple has a particular interest when it comes to its consumer electronics products. Apple's forthcoming Apple Watch reveals a particular interest in metallurgy, with the aluminum, steel and gold variants all modified by Apple at a molecular level to demonstrate unique qualities. An iCar project could easily lead to the development of new metals and other materials that find their way into shipping consumer electronics products. Similarly, it could lead to breakthroughs in glass and battery technology, especially if the rumored iCar is an all-electric model, as seems most likely. At the very least, such a project would lead to the development of numerous patents that Apple could monetize, even if it did not actually bring a car to market itself.
Apple Watch uses custom metals
If Apple does have ambitions to bring an iCar to market, it would face a lot of potential hurdles. The manufacture of cars is a complex business, and is not a particularly attractive market to enter. Very few new car makers arrive on the scene and are successful, with Telsa one of the few exceptions. As has been suggested, Apple could acquire Telsa if it wanted the necessary infrastructure and go-to-market capability. However, cars are a low-profit, low-margin business for most makers. It is only the premium brands like Mercedes and BMW that can boast margins any higher than 10 percent. But then again, Apple has a similar brand cache and appeal, coupled with the ability to find margins in products of which most other companies can only dream.
Tesla Model S
If an Apple iCar is something more than an R&D exercise, Apple could always partner with an established automaker to make it a reality. After all, Swiss watchmaker Swatch entered into a partnership with VW and ultimately Mercedes to bring the Smart car to market. Although no longer involved in the product after Mercedes bought out Swatch's stake in the company, the Smart car remains on the market to this day. No one would have backed Swatch to be successful in such an endeavour, yet Apple has far more resources at its disposal.
Smart For Two
While the late Steve Jobs had an affinity for Mercedes cars, it should also be remembered that current Apple Senior VP Eddy Cue is on the board at Ferrari. Although an Apple-Ferrari hook-up seems unlikely, Ferrari is currently part of the Fiat Chrysler family. A partnership with Fiat Chrysler is something that Eddy Cue is very well-positioned to explore.
Eddy Cue: Apple Senior VP and Ferrari board member
As our own William Gallagher so eloquently explored in a recent editorial on the subject, it is in Apple's DNA to take calculated risks. Sometimes, they have come off spectacularly, and other times they have not. Yet Apple has not become the titan that it is now by continuing to churn out the same products. It had a remarkable revival thanks to the iPod, but the iPod is barely even mentioned by anyone when talking about Apple these days. Right now, Apple is all about the iPhone and mobility. Who knows what we will be talking about when it comes to Apple in the not-too-distant future?
- Sanjiv Sathiah ( @sathinator)
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Last edited by NewsPoster; Feb 22, 2015 at 03:15 AM.
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Grizzled Veteran
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Saw Tesla parking in a rest area charging the battery the other day. I spent half hour eating a meal there and the car is still not charged. Our battery technology needs serious improvement. Electric car makes sense to the mass if the charging time is equal to putting gas in your tank. Otherwise, you are not going to see 20 to 30 cars waiting in line to be charged.
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Last edited by coffeetime; Feb 22, 2015 at 12:08 PM.
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Dedicated MacNNer
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My initial thought is that Apple is looking at ways to "monetize" all those recycled laptop batteries... Or ways to create the complex interfaces modern cars seem to "need" (it isn't really a need, it's just bad design) in a way which doesn't compromise driver attention. The number of cars that now need the driver's attention completely off the road in order to use basic controls such as changing cabin temperature, or dashboard illumination level, or adjusting audio settings other than volume, or... or... or... is just insane. A properly designed dashboard will allow the driver to develop muscle-memory to be able to adjust darn near everything while keeping eyes on the road. Instead we are getting systems where touch-screens and wildly-multifunction-knobs are the norm. Dangerous and negligent are the words that come to mind. It would be nice to see a company (maybe Apple) tackle this problem.
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battery technology breakthroughs don't just help your smartphone last longer between recharges... the same technology could be scaled up to enable electric cars to become as convenient as gasoline-powered cars. I'm still highly skeptical of an iCar, however. But if it did happen, something along the lines of the Smart car... manufactured under contract by FCA (Fiat Chrysler) and sold through their dealerships.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2001
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coffeetime: of course its going to take a while to charge the car -- its a huge battery -- but they don't generally need charging very often. I live in a town with charging stations all over the place, but they are located where people are likely to spend at least an hour: downtown parking garages, public libraries, malls and so forth. But the general idea is that they last all day and you charge them at home; the car you saw was likely just "topping up" a bit while it otherwise wouldn't be doing anything. I don't know about the laws of physics where you live, but where I am electricity can only be replenished at a certain rate; not magically quickly.
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Charles Martin
MacNN Editor
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10 things that you didn't know about the Apple iCar
1. You need to enter your Apple ID and password in order to start it.
2. The Engine is soldered to the chassis, when it goes, you need to buy a new iCar.
3. It will be so slim that only the thinnest of people can sit in it anywhere close to comfortably. In their never-ending obsession with slimness, form will prevail over function. Screw the consumer and what they really want.
4. There will be a new version every year that people will wait in line for hours to purchase.
5. You must log in to the App Store in order to turn on the radio. Apple will play music that it thinks you should listen to.
6. You will have to hold the antennae a certain way in order to get good reception.
7. Built-in GPS with Apple Maps.
8. In order to obtain the full claimed battery life, you will have to drive at 15 mph with everything shut off, otherwise it will last less than half the claimed battery life.
9. Each year there will be a new version of the operating system, that will make you iCar run progressively slower.
10. It will cost more than other cars with better specifications, but you will buy it anyway.
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Grizzled Veteran
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You ought to apply for a job at Buzzfeed, Applesoft.
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Apple is clearly aiming for that much-to-be-hoped-for time in the not too distant future when WE WILL NOT BE DRIVING OUR CARS - THEY WILL BE DRIVING US. In that near future scenario we'll all have a lot of free time on our hands as our cars drive us around. Think of what you see people with chauffeurs do while being driven from point to point.
Our "cars" will become extensions of our offices, homes, Starbucks tables, etc.
Apple is designing the info-rich user interfaces of these electric vehicle environments of the future
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Aston Martin is one of the best car around. The company has had a chequered financial history, including bankruptcy in the 1970s, but has also enjoyed long periods of success and stability, including under the ownership of David Brown, from 1947 to 1972 and of the Ford Motor Company from 1994 to 2007.
In March 2007, a consortium of investors, led by David Richards, purchased 92% of Aston Martin for £479 million, with Ford retaining a £40 million stake. David Richards became chairman of Aston Martin. In December 2012, the Italian private equity fund Investindustrial signed a deal to buy 37.5% of Aston Martin, investing £150 million as a capital increase. Today, revenue at luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin has topped the £500 million mark as sales climbed by 13 per cent. The Warwickshire company said turnover had risen to £519 million in the year to 31 December 2013 while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up by 22 per cent to £84.4 million.
Aston Martin added that global retail volumes had increased by 11 per cent to circa 4,200 and it was embarking on the biggest investment programme in the company's 101-year history.
The results come just a few days after credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the manufacturer, saying it faced "continued substantial negative free operating cash flow" during 2014 and 2015 due to sizable capital expenditure.
It follows the news in March that Aston Martin had secured a $165 million (£100 million) loan to invest in new models, starting out with the Lagonda SUV, amid plans to target the lucrative Chinese market.
All the above to say that Apple could simply buy this pearl - Aston Martin - as a start up platform for the Apple Car. Did I forget to say that Sir Jonathan Ive drives one?
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