The Apple car remains a mystery in broad strokes. It is well known that the company has been developing it for years, according to numerous patents that have been registered. Also that companies like Hyundai were about to participate in its manufacture, although the fact of only lending their factories without further incentives did not convince the Koreans.
Now it has become known about a hitherto secret plan that is related both to the Apple Car’s autonomous driving system and to the design and manufacture of the chip that would be in charge of managing it. All this according to reports from The Elec, a well-known Asian medium that has good sources in the company’s supply chain.
Next year the chip will be ready
According to the aforementioned medium, the South Korean company OSAT is the one that, commissioned by Apple, began the development of a chip very similar to the Apple Silicon of the Mac , which would integrate a CPU, a GPU and even RAM memory inside. This chip would be in charge of supervising the artificial intelligence calculations, accompanied by a possible neural chip.
And in addition to what is related to the autonomous driving system, it is said that this chip would also be able to handle information related to a camera , which would be designed to detect interactions close to the vehicle and thereby avoid possible accidents and other fortuitous crashes. And, if everything goes as expected and according to these reports, the chip would be finished by 2023 , although this does not mean that it will be when Apple presents the vehicle.
Concept of a very futuristic Apple Car
It is still a medium-long term project
At the moment Apple has its most immediate eyes on the mixed reality headset that, except for surprise, could already be released this year (or at least part of its software). The car is a project started at least 8 years ago and in which Apple does not want to rush. This is what the best-informed analysts about the situation have been saying for some time.
In fact, the project is not completely closed and although it is already assumed that the company will launch an electric vehicle as such, with its own software included, it is not yet ruled out that they will simply launch the system for other vehicles first to test the market. And although the trend of electric cars is increasingly evident and companies like Tesla exercise a strong leadership in innovation in the sector, from Cupertino they do not want to lose their calm.
“Better to be late and do better” is an old company dogma that they seem to be sticking with with this project. In fact, it is expected that they will incorporate truly groundbreaking innovations such as long-lasting batteries that will help eliminate that obstacle for which many continue to prefer hybrids and diesel / gasoline.
Thus, the most optimistic place it closer to 2030 than to these next few years. Launching fully into a sector hitherto unknown to them is not easy, so patience rules.