On November 19, according to a Bloomberg report, according to people familiar with the matter, Apple is accelerating the development of its electric vehicles and is refocusing the project on fully autonomous driving capabilities to help solve the problems that plague the automotive industry. Technical challenges. It is understood that Apple’s internal goal is to launch its self-driving cars within four years, faster than the five to seven-year timetable planned by many engineers earlier this year.
People familiar with the matter said that Apple recently achieved a key milestone in the development of the underlying autonomous driving system for cars. Apple believes that the company has completed most of the core work on the processor that it ultimately intends to use in the first generation of cars.

Refocus on the development of fully autonomous vehicles

In the past few years, Apple's automotive team has explored two roads at the same time: one is to develop cars with limited autonomous driving capabilities, focusing on functions such as automatic steering and acceleration, similar to most of Tesla's current cars; It is the research and development of models with fully automatic driving capabilities without any manual intervention.

Under the leadership of Kevin Lynch, the recently inaugurated Apple Watch software director, engineers are now focusing on the second option. People familiar with the matter said that Lynch is advancing the early appearance of the first car with a complete autonomous driving system.

Apple's car project is called the "Special Projects Group" (Special Projects Group) or "Project Titan" (Project Titan). Since its inception in 2014, the project has undergone many strategic changes and executive turnover. In September of this year, the former head of the team, Doug Field (Doug Field) left after three years at the helm and went to work for Ford. When choosing its successor, Apple chose Lynch, an internal executive who is not a veteran of the auto industry.

Technology and auto giants have spent years on autonomous driving research and development, but their capabilities are still not satisfactory. Tesla, the leader in the electric car market, may take several years to launch fully autonomous vehicles. Waymo, a self-driving car company under Google’s parent company Alphabet, has encountered a series of executive departures in its efforts to develop this technology, and Uber It even sold its autonomous driving division last year.

Apple’s internal goal is to launch its self-driving cars in four years, faster than the five to seven-year timetable that many engineers planned earlier this year. But this time is still uncertain. Whether the goal of 2025 can be achieved depends on whether the company can complete the development of the autonomous driving system. Obviously, there are many challenges. If Apple fails to achieve its goals, it may postpone the release of cars, or initially only sell cars with lower technology content.

Significant progress in processor development

Apple's ideal car should have no steering wheel and pedals, and its interior will be designed around unmanned driving. One option discussed internally by the company is an interior similar to the Lifestyle Vehicle of the upstart Canoo in the electric car industry. In that car, passengers were sitting face to face on both sides of the car, as if they were riding in a limousine.

Apple has also explored in-vehicle infotainment systems, and it is likely to place a large touch screen similar to the iPad in the center of the car, allowing users to interact with it during the entire ride. The car will also be deeply integrated with Apple's existing services and equipment. Although Apple hopes that there will no longer be a standard steering wheel, the company has discussed a backup plan to equip the car with an emergency takeover mode.

People familiar with the matter said that Apple recently achieved a key milestone in the development of the underlying autonomous driving system for cars. Apple believes that the company has completed most of the core work on the processor that it ultimately intends to use in the first generation of cars.

This chip was designed by Apple's silicon engineering team, not by the automotive team. The silicon engineering team designed processors for iPhone, iPad and Mac. This work includes polishing the underlying software running on the chip to provide support for autonomous driving capabilities.

These developments may soon enter the road test. Apple plans to start using new processor designs and updated self-driving sensors on modified cars. The company has spent several years testing these cars in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed that Apple currently uses 69 Lexus SUVs to test its technology.

Apple's car chips are the most advanced components developed in-house by the company, and are mainly composed of neural processors that can handle the artificial intelligence required for autonomous driving. The ability of the chip means that it will run hot, which may require the development of more complex cooling systems.

Apple hopes to develop a car that will allow customers to avoid driving fatigue during long-distance travel. But for "outsiders" like Apple, making real cars will require cooperation. The company has discussed the transaction with a number of manufacturers and is considering the possibility of manufacturing its cars in the United States.

Ensuring safety is still a top priority

Even with these recent advances, within Apple, creating a fully autonomous car before 2025 is considered a very radical approach. Many people who participated in the Titan Project were skeptical of this timetable.

Security is one of the main obstacles to achieving this goal. Engineers involved in car research and development said that Apple is seeking to establish stronger security measures than Tesla and Waymo. This includes creating a lot of redundancy, that is, the ability of a multi-layer backup system to function to avoid safety and drive system failures.

Apple is actively recruiting engineers to test and develop security features. In a recent job posting, Apple wrote: "The special project team is looking for experienced mechanical engineers to lead the development of mechanical systems with critical safety functions. You will be able to use your passion to solve problems and help design safety systems. And lead the development and testing of these systems."

As part of its efforts to accelerate the car project, Apple is hiring more autonomous driving and automotive hardware engineers, including the hiring of CJ Moore (CJ Moore), Tesla's former director of autonomous driving software.

According to information obtained on the professional social networking site LinkedIn (LinkedIn) and people familiar with the matter, in recent weeks, Apple has also hired Volvo's air-conditioning system experts, Daimler Trucks managers, and Karma Motors. Automotive) and battery system engineers from other automakers, sensor engineers from Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, automotive safety engineers from companies such as Joyson Safety Systems, and many other Tesla engineers.

Apple’s recruitment information shows that the company is still hiring software engineers dedicated to the "human-computer interaction experience of autonomous driving technology," which shows that the company is deepening the development of the user interface of this car. The job posting also hinted that the software being developed will be based on technology similar to the iPhone operating system.

In order to power Apple cars, Apple has discussed compatibility with the Joint Charging System (CCS). This will allow Apple to enter a huge global charger network. But this method will be different from the company's proprietary charging system developed for the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple internally debated several different business models for its cars, including creating self-driving fleets to compete with companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Waymo. The company also discussed an exterior design similar to Canoo. However, it is more likely that Apple will provide these cars to individual users.

Can new executives provoke the backbone?

To achieve these goals is not easy. Apple's automotive project has suffered development challenges, leadership difficulties, layoffs and delays in its seven-year history. In 2018, Field joined Apple from Tesla, setting off a craze, but it ended in failure. In addition to Field himself, at least four executives of the project will leave in 2021.

Some members of the Apple car team believe that Field was annoyed at reporting to John Giannandrea, the head of the artificial intelligence business, after his former boss Bob Mansfield retired. Mansfield used to supervise automotive projects part-time, when he reported directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Lynch is now the fifth executive responsible for Apple's car project in the past seven years. Such executive changes are rare in Apple. Take the virtual and augmented reality team as an example. The team started at the same time as the car project, but it is always led by the same executives.

Nevertheless, considering Lynch’s ability to help Apple Watch become the company’s core product, many engineers in the automotive team believe his appointment is a positive sign. Lynch reports to Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer.

Lynch used to be a software executive and has no experience in car hardware or autonomous driving, but the project’s former Tesla executives will play a key role, including Michael Schwekutsch and Stewart Bauer. (Stuart Bowers). Apple also hired Ulrich Kranz earlier this year, who previously led Canoo and helped oversee the development of BMW's electric vehicles.

When Lynch was selected to take over the car project, he was still in charge of the Apple Watch operating system and certain health software teams. He continues to participate in high-level decision-making while focusing most of his time on automotive projects. The question now is whether an executive in charge of one of Apple's last big things (smart watches) can turn the car into Apple's "next big thing."