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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1515807
1 - The Apple Car Do we even need to say that the Apple Car is nowhere close to showing up this year? While Apple’s automotive ambitions have been one of the company’s worst-kept secrets, most analysts have finally come to a consensus that we won’t see this legendary vehicle until at least 2026 — and when we do, it won’t be quite the futuristic dream that many hoped for. The earliest rumors predicted the Apple Car would arrive by 2019, so it’s easy to see how any of these should be taken with a very healthy dose of salt. Apple had a long, winding, and tumultuous road in developing what was originally supposed to be a fully autonomous vehicle, reportedly changing directions to focus on self-driving systems for other vehicles before returning to the idea of building a fully Apple-branded electric car that some analysts predicted would arrive between 2023 and 2025. However, since that time, the project has been through major staff changes, high-profile executive reassignments, and new talent acquisitions, plus reports that Apple has tried courting manufacturing partners from Hyundai to LG. The most ambitious 2021 timelines suggested Apple might have something to show off by the end of 2024, but these have since been revised to 2026, and sources say that Apple has given up on some of its most ambitious designs that would have been fully autonomous with no steering wheel and passengers facing each other. Instead, Apple has prioritized getting a car built and onto the market rather than taking another few years to perfect its self-driving technology — which is understandably a much tougher nut to crack. Instead, the first-generation Apple Car we eventually see will likely be limited to autonomous driving features on highways only, where there are far fewer variables for the system to contend with. Ideally, this could allow a driver to relax on a more extended trip and maybe even watch a movie, leaving the Apple Car to handle the task of staying on the highway and maintaining speed relative to other vehicles.