Apple car? Apple 'abandons' the car! Facts have proved that working behind closed doors still doesn't work.

Apple’s decision to end its secretive car project highlights the challenges facing electric and self-driving cars around the world. In fact, Apple's car-building plan is not a secret. The news has spread for a long time, but no one expected it to end so suddenly.

In 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed what the global auto industry has long been concerned about: Apple is working on developing self-driving cars.

"We are focused on self-driving systems. Obviously, one of the main applications of self-driving systems is self-driving cars," Cook said in an interview. Think of it to some extent as the mother of all AI projects. It's probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually, so self-research is very exciting for us, but we'll see where it takes us Where."

What high requirements does Apple have for autonomous driving? The outside world doesn't know. Ultimately, this guiding ideology led Apple Car to a dead end, because Apple basically had nothing to gain in this area. Recently, well-known whistleblower Mark Gurman confirmed that Apple has abandoned its secret car project and that most of the team's employees have been transferred to generative artificial intelligence projects. Others may be fired. Presumably, the project could be shelved like other products that never saw the light of day, such as the Apple TV.

The "non-existent" Apple Car

Nearly a decade after it first launched Project Titan, Apple is back where it started.

From start to finish, the project was a vague, mysterious thing that never really took shape, much to the embarrassment of even the most loyal Apple fans. While it may seem like a futile effort, would-be competitors, especially investors, are celebrating the decision to divest.

Wall Street has been skeptical of Apple's investment in the automotive field, arguing that it is an expensive project that will do more harm than good. Wedbush's Dan Ives congratulated Apple for "ripping the Band-Aid off," saying it was "clearly the right direction for Cook to go."

Morgan Stanley analysts also praised the company for "focusing on what matters" and being very cost-conscious.

Does the demise of Apple Car coincide with the bleak future of autonomous driving?

That’s not to say that Apple’s car isn’t important in the bigger picture, but it’s that the company would be better off focusing its efforts on projects that deserve more attention. But for Apple, this is somewhat ironic.

Some people believe that the demise of Apple Car coincides with the fact that the prospects for electric cars and self-driving cars are bleak. In recent years, investment by new forces has been controlled, factories have been shut down, and model lineups have been canceled. Pure electric vehicle companies like Rivian and Lucid, which specialize in plug-in vehicles, are struggling to find sales because most people are looking for more affordable vehicles. Choose – or hedge your risk with a hybrid.

If Apple suddenly enters the market, the tech giant could face similar headwinds, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at Guidehouse Insights.

"Affordability is a growing issue. Since Apple doesn't plan to sell entry-level electric cars, their high-end market will increasingly struggle," he said. "If Lucid and Rivian can't find a way to sell expensive electric cars while making the products as good as they are, then newcomers like Apple will have a hard time getting a foothold."

Develop a set The hardware and software needed to make a car drive itself seems more in line with Apple's capabilities than building a car from scratch. Apple has apparently made some progress on this front, operating a modestly sized fleet in California and even issuing a seven-page safety report that looks a bit amusing to U.S. regulators.

Apple has never really caught up with its competitors

It goes without saying that Apple is great, but forget it about building cars.

This is an area where Apple has never really caught up with its competitors, which have been working on the problem longer and investing more resources. Apple has never received permission from California regulators to operate its vehicles without a safety driver in the front seat. The company's fleet size has remained relatively flat. But Apple persevered, and its self-driving fleet mileage growth last year outpaced Waymo and Cruise.

Of course, Apple can modify dozens of cars with sensors and software to make them drive autonomously, and many companies can do this. With more than 36 companies having self-driving cars on the road in California, it wouldn't be too difficult to find a bunch of Toyota Highlanders, or whatever, and slap some cameras and lidar on them.

But given Apple’s strong “desire for control”, the only way to achieve autonomous driving may be a closed ecosystem, just like iOS. If Apple could back down a little, maybe the car would be on its way.

None of the rumored deals came to fruition. Apple has negotiated cooperation with established car manufacturers such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Hyundai Motor, but no one is willing to sign a contract to produce Apple cars. So Apple decided to turn to software. It acquired Drive.ai, a startup that ran out of money within days. Apple acquired the small company's small team of self-driving engineers. However, Apple has never been able to decide who should be responsible for the entire project.

Finally, in January this year, Apple executives issued an ultimatum to the "Titan Project": either build a car or abandon the car. It may be that in the eyes of Apple executives, self-driving cars are obsolete, and Level 2 autonomous driving systems—such as Tesla’s Full Self-Driving or General Motors’ Super Cruise—are already here. As a result, the original release date of Apple Car was postponed to 2028.

Just as more than 2,000 employees of the Apple car project are preparing to fight for a few more years, Apple’s top executives have already been researching artificial intelligence. A few weeks later, the project was banned, and Apple’s plans to build a car were completely mothballed.

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