Apple’s long-running development of the ‘Apple Car’ stalled due to “hubris”, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Rather than working on a less ambitious project that would offer features similar to a Tesla model, Apple instead opted to “change the world” when it set out to begin the car’s development in 2014, Gurman explained in the latest issue of his Power On newsletter.
Gurman says Apple’s “hubris” was perhaps understandable at the time, coming off of successful iPhone, iPad, and Apple Music launches, and approaching the advent of the Apple Watch.
“By the time Apple realized their mistake a few years ago, it was too late,” Gurman explains.
“All of the design work had focused on a car meant to have no steering wheel or pedals. The company also had sunk billions of dollars into developing a Level 5 self-driving system — the highest level of autonomy. The die was cast.”
Gurman said sources compared it to Apple skipping multiple entries of iPhone to try to launch with an iPhone X – a bridge too far for even Apple’s technological means, it seems. That lines up with a report from earlier this week that the company has spent $10 billion on the now-cancelled vehicle.
Apple’s wrong turn
Gurman also notes that the car would likely have cost a lot to buy thanks to a high cost of manufacture, and would have only offered Apple “razor-thin” profit margins that may not have existed at all.
That, combined with the earlier reports of Apple executives disagreeing on the key aspects of the project, doomed the Apple Car.
Gurman notes that even if Apple had attempted a “Tesla Clone”, it may have still been difficult to crack the auto market.
He also notes that Apple’s attention will now turn to the next opportunity to fuel revenue, including AR glasses and AI-powered AirPods, foldable iPads, and more.
Apple’s CarPlay update is also kicking off soon with some features found in iOS 17.4.
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