News on January 15, Apple applied to the United States Trademark and Patent Office for a new patent on the design of car doors, in the new design, smart car doors will no longer be hinged as the core, with the characteristics of adaptive opening and closing doors. It is reported that Apple submitted a large number of patents related to car design a year ago, but there is no specific product information disclosed.
(Image courtesy of Pixabay)
Earlier, technology media Howtoisolve revealed the arrival of Apple Car, according to the original plan, Apple's first smart tram will be publicly unveiled in 2025 and officially launched in 2026, with an estimated price of about $90,000 and positioned at a high end. In fact, this is not the first time that Apple Car has been exposed, since 2020, Apple's entry into the field of smart cars has been continuously reported, but this idea is too "fantastic" and there is no substantial evidence, which once made consumers very suspicious. But judging from the latest exposed patent news, this product will not come too late.
It is not surprising that smartphone manufacturers crossed smart trams, such as Xiaomi, Huawei, or Meizu, which entered the car market in another way. But Apple's first car to parachute into the high-end market, there are still many doubts. In the newly exposed design, Apple intends to use adaptive door features, which can be adaptive positioning based on sensor data or user input, which sounds cool. In addition, the door can identify the surrounding environment according to sensors and intelligent algorithms, calculate the risk of opening the door, and automatically lock it when necessary. Of course, this feature is still more practical for complex parking environments, but it is a test of the power of artificial intelligence algorithms.
(Image courtesy of Pixabay)
In fact, according to Apple's experience of "overturning" on "intelligent detection", this feature is indeed worrying. On the iPhone 14 series and Apple Watch S8 series, Apple brought the car accident detection function, since the function was launched, the problem of false alarms has remained high, which has seriously affected the normal work of the local rescue team. Dwight Yochim, senior director of the Search and Rescue Association of Columbia, Canada, said that many times receive car accident detection and rescue alerts from Apple, but when they arrive at the scene, they find that the helper is playing a mobile game or sports. It can be expected that a small car accident detection will turn Apple around, all rely on sensors and algorithms can really get the adaptive opening and closing of the door? It's worrying.
But I have to say that the automobile market already has a very mature system, Apple must position high-end, light luxury for the first time, and come up with core functions that can convince consumers. But interestingly, Tesla, which has been playing well in the high-end market, plans to hit the low-end market, can Apple resist Tesla, which focuses on "cost performance"?