Driving my Tesla is more like driving an iPad than driving a car. The iPad-size screen, which doubles as a dashboard, may actually be bigger than my iPad Pro. Save for a few functions like steering and braking, the driver interacts with the Tesla through the touchscreen. But while the Tesla screen copies the iPad, it fails to get everything right. After many frustrated attempts at finding or controlling vehicle functions, I often wonder when is Apple finally going to come out with its iCar?
The most unwelcome answer came this afternoon: Never. According to a Bloomberg News report, Apple announced in an internal meeting that the not-so-secret Titan Project (also called Project 172, according to the New York Times) will be abandoned. Apple will be moving staff previously working on this project to other jobs. Many of them will start to work on Apple’s AI projects.
In fact, it's unknown whether “iCar” was ever to be the official name of the vehicle. Apple has never disclosed any name or publicly discussed its plans for an electric autonomous vehicle (AV). But iCar was frequently used to refer to the ultra-secretive company’s worst kept secret. Patents for AV technology were found early on, fueling (pun intended) much anticipation. Prototype spotting on public roads removed all doubt of the iCar’s existence, though did not reveal its name.
What may be a cruel blow to Apple fans is also no endorsement for CEO Tim Cook, who took over Apple after Steve Jobs died. Jobs was a hard act for anyone to follow. He'd introduced the next big thing several times. Cook, on the other hand, may be remembered for the next little thing: the Apple Watch. To Cook's credit, the Apple Watches displaced quartz watches and introduced watches to a generation unaccustomed to them. But they sell for a less than half the price of iPhones and a fraction of the price of MacBooks. The Vision Pro, a VR headset is Apple’s most expensive product ($3,499), it has yet to catch on. In both cases, inventions during Cook’s tenure have not made as dramatic gains to Apple’s top line as have MacBooks and, most importantly, iPhones.
The iCar could have made Apple the world's most valuable automotive company, surpassing Tesla, and secured Cook’s place in an innovator hall of fame, if there's to be one. We hear exhalations of relief from those who had no faith in Apple making vehicles, saying “making cars is hard.” We hear Elon Musk, for whom hard has never meant impossible, laughing.
Maybe Apple thought the iCar would be too much of a risk. After all, AV companies are being held liable for AV accidents. Phones and computers don’t run that risk. Or, Apple may have thought the development too slow or too expensive. Apple is said to have spent billions of dollars on the project. But what is that to a company that has more than $70B in cash? It’s possible that those infatuated with AI, the technology of today's most closely watched innovation race, grew impatient at Apple's lack of effort in AI. This may be the most plausible theory of why Apple abandoned the AV. Cook promised earlier this year an AI announcement at an investor meeting. And the head of Project Titan now reports to Apple’s head of AI — as do several members of the now defunct iCar team.
Or, perhaps the voices saying “Apple isn't a car company” grew too loud and “Apple wasn't a phone company, either” rebuttals weren't heard. If so, Apple may just have cancelled what could have been yet another lifestyle changing innovation.