Apple’s rumoured autonomous car isn’t going to be quite as capable as we’d been told to expect according to a new report that says it’ll be late, too.
Apple has long been rumoured to have designs on launching a self-driving car, possibly as soon as 2025. But a new report by Bloomberg’s well-connected Mark Gurman says that the company has had to revise its plans. Now, the car won’t be as autonomous as had previously been hoped.
“In a significant shift for the project, the company is now planning a less-ambitious design that will include a steering wheel and pedals and only support full autonomous capabilities on highways,” Gurman says, citing unnamed sources. The previous plan was for a car that didn’t have any of the traditional driver controls and could drive everywhere on its own, but that now seems to have gone out the window.
What’s more, that initial 2025 release window also seems to have been given up – Gurman says that project lead Kevin Lynch is now aiming for 2026 instead. Lynch reportedly “has aimed to bring more stability and a focus on practical goals after years of priority changes and even some layoffs.” that means that Lynch is now “dialing back expectations” to ensure that the car actually reaches the market.
Gurman also goes on to say that Apple’s self-driving technology will feature a powerful machine codenamed Denali, built around as many as four of Apple’s fastest Mac processors. That system is said to be ready for mass production but, again, it’s thought Apple may choose to scale that back as well.
As for pricing, Gurman says that Apple had originally aimed to sell the car for at least $120,000 but the company is now trying to aim for something around the $100,000 mark – putting it squarely in Tesla Model S and Mercedes-Benz EQS territory. That won’t make it a cheap car by any stretch, but the tech involved could make it worth the price. Assuming that 2026 release window is met, that is.