Bloomberg: Apple's electric car project reaches critical crossroads

Apple finds itself at a 'make-or-break' juncture with its highly secretive and enigmatic "Apple Car" project, Bloomberg reports. Years of development, massive investments, and ambitious goals have characterized Apple's foray into the electric vehicle market, but we are seemingly nowhere close to seeing it bear fruit.

For the past decade, Apple has been channeling approximately $1 billion per year into Project Titan, the codename for its electric car venture. The project, shrouded in secrecy, has attracted top talent from the automotive and battery sectors, including former Tesla employees. Yet, it's still unable to overcome the challenges that every startup in the EV space faces.

Initially, Apple set its sights on developing a fully self-driving EV, with the likely intention of serving as a robotaxi. However, recent reports suggest that the company is reevaluating its approach. Apple is now reportedly concentrating on creating a car that offers driver assistance on highways but still requires human intervention and attention. Even with this change in direction the expected launch date for the Apple Car is way ahead in 2028, a significant delay from the initial goal of 2026 - which already has been pushed back more times than we can count.

According to insiders, Apple's EV project has reached a critical juncture after a decade of development, leadership shakeups, and layoffs. The company now faces a 'make-or-break' decision, with the possibility of discontinuing the project if this latest pivot does not yield the expected results.

That kind of driver-assistance system sounds identical to the Level 2 drive assist systems offered by just about every maker out there. Apple envisions evolving its system over time to make the car more autonomous, but we've heard this before.

Apple will allegedly bet on design, robust safety systems, and a unique user interface to help its car stand out. However, with legacy makers increasingly turning to EVs, Tesla's already established name as a technology and user interface car brand and other tech companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Sony entering the arena it's not going to be easy to obtain the kind of status Apple's iPhones and Macs enjoy.

We do hope, for the sake of competition, Apple manages to deliver an actual car. It would be a real shame if this entire project shuts down without leaving a trace.

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