A new report from Bloomberg details Apple’s decade-long development of its Apple Car project, revealing several ditched concepts and how the project was killed due to executive indecision. With every new report, we’re seeing more information emerge that had been forgotten with time or that had never been shared outside of closed doors.
Bloomberg’s report paints a bleak picture of indecision that ultimately led to the demise of the Apple Car and Project Titan. Over the last decade, Apple has spent an estimated $10 billion on the Apple Car project, producing at least five prototypes.
Apple’s various designs for the vehicle included one Jony Ive design that has been called the “Bread Loaf” with club seating, Kevin Lynch’s “I-Beam” (which lacked a windshield), and the very Tesla-like final prototype.
Ive’s “Bread Loaf” design was completely autonomous and lacked a true steering wheel, although it did boast a video game control pad the rider could use to take control of the vehicle. The vehicle resembled a minivan and sported a glass roof, sliding doors, and a glass roof.
Meanwhile, the “I-Beam” design was a pill-shaped vehicle that lacked both front and rear windows. It was never explained how a rider would take control if needed, as there was no way to see out the front end of the vehicle.
Each prototype went through multiple redesigns and saw several feature changes before being ultimately discarded.
Any employee requests to scale back the project would be immediately vetoed by top Apple executives. After being shown a version that sported a steering wheel and traditional pedals an unnamed Apple executive reportedly said, “you could have done this 10 years ago.”
The cancellation announcement last week reportedly came as a surprise to the approximately 2,000 employees working on the project.
Many of the employees who were working on the car will move to Apple’s artificial intelligence division to work on generative AI under AI chief John Giannandrea.
Unfortunately, there will be layoffs, although some of the hardware engineers and car designers who were on the Apple Car team may be able to move to other divisions and projects in the firm.
