While Apple Cars is a classified project, rumors remain, and we analyze the parts and technologies the tech giant might use to open a new chapter in the much-anticipated car-making process.
Apple has yet to confirm or deny that it is developing a car code-named Project Titan (also known as The Chrome Project), but a large number of automotive stakeholders and commentators have been curious about what the so-called "Apple Car" might bring.
Due to the secrecy of the Apple Automotive joint venture, there are many unknown or unconfirmed aspects about the production location, potential partners and expected production of this project.
01 .
Key issues
Will Apple cars go into production?
The first thing to point out is that Apple has a track record of exploration in many areas, sets a high standard for the excellent quality of products, and often decides to terminate product releases after a lot of exploration, and will only release them after the company really feels that it has a chance of success.
In this case, although Apple has invested a lot of money in this area since 2014, it may still not be able to launch in the end, although the current probability of Apple car launch is more than 50%.
From a strategic point of view, Apple's entry into the automotive industry makes sense. Apple's revenue has exceeded $300 billion this year, but it can no longer achieve meaningful incremental growth in the consumption area of its current services.
What will apple cars look like?
It's uncertain which segment Apple intends to focus on, but assuming the family car as the target, the car could fall somewhere between the Tesla Model X and the Honda SUV e:concept. No matter how small the size is, unless Apple changes its vehicle's intended target.
Apple's core mission is centered on providing the best user experience, and its product design has a user-friendly, clean interface that, in some cases, will bring convenience to consumers when it pushes the boundaries in terms of design or performance (one might recall: in 2008, the Mac Air eliminated the disk drive, and the iPhone 7 eliminated the headphone jack in pursuit of thin and light phones).
IHS's analysis of car patents and california self-driving tests suggests that Apple cars may not have a significant advantage or breakthrough in self-driving or batteries. This means that the main focus of the proposed vehicle is on interior design and functionality.
When will Apple Cars be available?
It has been suggested that Apple cars will debut in 2024; however, given the typical timelines associated with the procurement, industrialization and manufacturing cycles, this window of time seems rather tight.
If this launch time is determined, it could mean that Apple needs to leverage existing automotive platforms or automaker partners and/or foundry manufacturer (level 0.5) partners. If it relies on external manufacturing partners, its annual production is unlikely to exceed 150,000 units.
Vehicle development or partial development?
Unlike tesla, which has done in various fields, the choice to work with large automakers will allow Apple cars to quickly go into mass production without having to redesign the manufacturing process, giving Apple the opportunity to focus on customer-facing features and services and reduce time to market.
However, to replicate its success in consumer electronics, Apple will need to tightly control the development and integration of hardware and software. This would reduce any automaker partner to an outside manufacturer or supplier of the vehicle's base, something that many automakers are reluctant to try.
What do Apple's partners get?
Esstrum Huamai believes that OEM manufacturing of key components with partners such as Magna and/or LG is more likely than working with automakers, and that working with LG is highly likely because it is already part of Apple's supply chain. However, unless Apple's expected goals are lowered, the cooperation with Apple is a major breakthrough for most foundry manufacturers in the automotive industry at present.
02 .
Technical analysis
Automation - Application
For Apple, plans to roll out L4 self-driving cars will be a huge bet; regulatory uncertainty remains a factor, requiring additional permits to transport passengers and further permits to charge for ride services.
The self-driving-based MaaS business model strongly supports Apple's focus on content and user experience, and is aligned with many tech companies that work on autonomous driving and don't usually make cars. However, it is likely that individually owned or leased vehicles will begin to use collaborative autonomous driving functions at L2 or L2+ or L3 levels; such as benchmark ADAS functions such as automatic braking.
Connectivity - Mobile apps
Apple's application ecosystem and cloud platform will play an important role in defining Apple's car. It's natural for Apple to embed its app store in its cars, but it's also likely to try to provide a developer-friendly framework that provides certification for in-vehicle apps.
Connectivity - V2X
Given the significant investment in the high level of automation, Apple is likely to roll out the V2X to its future fleet. This is one of the most active areas of apple's tech giant's patent campaign, ranging from navigation interfaces to messaging, resource selection, and even communication using non-standard road signs.
Electrification - batteries
Whether Apple designs cars directly and produces them through original design manufacturers (ODMs) such as Foxconn or LG Magna e-Powertrain, or whether it uses vehicle platforms developed by other automakers, this will greatly influence the design concept of battery packs.
Materials and body structure
Apple Cars will take a comprehensive approach, with a design that never goes out of style, going beyond current safety standards to ensure that potential additional crash tests in the future do not force changes in the car's structure.
semiconductor
Essin Huamai believes that Apple is unlikely to try to use the iPhone A12 processor for car driving. That's because the L4-level AI chip is much more than the A12 (for example, Tesla's FSD chip uses a 14-nanometer process and has a computing power of 74 TOPS, while the A12 6 billion transistors have only 5 TOPS hash rate).
Instead, Apple is expected to repurpose its existing IP catalog to develop automotive-specific SoCs, where possible, while developing automotive-specific IP for automotive-specific process nodes.
Software
The key to Apple's design philosophy is to achieve tight integration of hardware, software and services, with a strong emphasis on internal software functions. This is a source of advantage for all of Apple's products, so it is likely that it will continue to retain this advantage in its automotive offerings.
Apple's software strategy in the automotive space is expected to include deeper stack control than most other automakers, including operating systems and middleware, as well as advanced analytics and connectivity capabilities.
UI/UX - Augmented Reality - Heads-Up Display
Apple is likely to adopt a minimalist, virtual user interface/experience design against Tesla. This includes a limited number of physical buttons and other physical touchpoints on the central dashboard, center console, and even steering wheel (or Yoke steering wheel).
Apple has a large number of patents for augmented reality technology head-up displays. It's likely that Apple cars will have augmented reality head-up displays, not only for the needs of autonomous driving capabilities, but also to create a clean user interface without a dashboard. Electric vehicles typically have greater potential in augmented reality head-up display applications, largely due to the space required for the steering wheel column and the area around it.
UI/UX- Display
Both Samsung and BOE have the ability and scale to work with Apple in automotive applications. Samsung will provide key semiconductor experience, while BOE is likely to be more cost-effective and take advantage of its recent success in the iPhone business.
Apple has also invested in hidden touch capabilities that can leverage some of the existing iPhone technology and others to match the sleek interior. 3M is a leading supplier in this space and is a logical choice for collaboration.
Source: Automotive Electronics and Software, Intrusion and Deletion