The Apple Car, a futuristic vehicle project from popular tech company Apple, is still under development, despite a lack of recent news. According to a Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman, the decade-long project, named Project Titan, has gone through several changes in leadership. Initially envisioned as a fully autonomous car, then as an electric vehicle rivaling those of Tesla, the Apple Car is now planned for launch no later than 2028, two years after the date initially reported by the company.
The car will have its range reduced, going from a Level 5 system, which is full automation, to a Level 4 system, which is full automation in certain circumstances.
However, it now appears that it will actually only be a Level 2+ system, offering partial automation with limited autonomous driving features such as lane centering, braking and acceleration support. The driver must always pay full attention to the car.
This places the Apple Car in competition with Tesla's Autopilot, also classified at level 2.
In renderings, Apple's car has no steering wheel or pedals, but instead appears to have a remote control center.
Now the previously envisioned aesthetic appears to feature more of the standard features needed to control a car. Gurman reports that those close to the project believe that delivering an Apple Car with reduced functionality and lowered expectations could make or break the entire project: "Either the company is finally able to deliver this product with reduced expectations, or executives could seriously reconsider the existence of the project." The company still wants to offer a Level 4 autonomous system in the future, but it is uncertain when that will happen. Although rumors about Apple's Project Titan have been circulating since the mid-2010s, the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain the project.
