Apple Car – Would It Have Been iPhone or Lisa 2.0?
By Edward A. Sanchez — Feb. 29, 2024
The tech blogosphere has been awash with reports that Apple has pulled the plug on its so-called “Project Titan,” aka: the “Apple Car.” While the Cult of Cupertino die-hards may be rending their clothes and beating their chests in anguish, pulling the plug on this highly anticipated product may go down as one of Tim Cook’s smartest business decisions of his tenure. Allow me to unpack…
Rumors of an Apple Car date back nearly a decade, with the rumor reaching the height of its hype cycle in mid-2016, when MotorTrend put its rendering of the car on its cover, and had a multi-page feature within the issue with various “subject matter experts” weighing in with their opinions and speculations of what it might be. Since that time, speculation has bubbled up periodically on the status of the project, and how close it might be to production.
As with most things Apple, the entire project has been shrouded in secrecy since day one, with only job postings hinting at the company’s automotive ambitions.
The fatal fly in the ointment, if you’re to believe the armchair quarterback speculation on most blogs, is that Apple could not fine tune the autonomous driving suite to its satisfaction. This is no shame on Apple, as truthfully, no other automaker, Tier-1, supplier or technology company has been able to crack the code of unconditional (feet, hands- and eyes-free, no geofence operation) autonomy. If the company were to bring to market “only” another enhanced highway cruise control system like GM’s Super Cruise or Ford’s BlueCruise, the feedback from the tech community likely would have been a collective “Lame!”
If it had come to market, the Apple Car likely would have had an immersive infotainment experience, premium finishes and features, and a futuristic design. Even at its anticipated $80,000 to 100,000 price, the initial production run would have likely quickly sold out with early adopters and wealthy fanboys snapping them up. Then what? Flash-in-the-pan hype is not a sustainable business model. And with cost-of-living a hot topic among many households in the U.S. and around the world, as cool as it might have been, it might have remained nothing more than a computer desktop wallpaper for many.
But don’t count Apple out of the automotive game entirely. The company showed a much more immersive second-generation version of CarPlay at WWDC 2022. Going beyond the center display, this version takes over the entire dashboard, including the instrument cluster and (when equipped) the passenger-side display. You can bet part of the business proposition with CarPlay 2.0 is the integration of subscriptions and services, like Apple Music, video, and various other value-added apps. This approach probably would have been a big part of the business plan for the Apple Car.
In focusing on the software and experience with CarPlay, rather than the wholesale development of an entire car, Apple avoids the tedious, expensive, and logistically complex business of car distribution, sales, service, maintenance, and lifecycle management. It likely would have faced a lot of the same issues Tesla went through in its painful growth period from 2017-’20, including “production hell,” dealing with state-by-state dealer franchise laws, and inevitably, recalls. It also frees itself from the traditional 15-year obligation to provide service and parts support, which would have been a huge drag on its bottom line in real estate, warranty claims, and employee training.
For those unfamiliar with Apple’s history, of the two products mentioned in the headline, one is known by the majority of the current population of planet Earth. The other is only known to a small number of tech enthusiasts – the Lisa was a unique, high-featured, and very expensive computer that was a marketplace flop. The Apple Car, regardless of how good or bad it was, would have had its 15 minutes of fame. But it might not have had staying power.
Does this mean the idea of an Apple Car is dead and gone forever and ever? Perhaps not. But a botched or even bumpy rollout of the magnitude of a new car could have potentially cost Tim Cook his job. Whether the decision to euthanize the Apple Car was entirely Cook’s decision, or the Apple board’s collectively, considering the current state of technology, it was probably a wise one.
(Image by Andy Wang)
