Steve Jobs, who for Gods sake never even pulled the trigger on a TV, would do it. Tim Cook will never do it.
Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
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Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Having one display off to the side, without buttons, that does everything is an awful experience in a car I have to strongly disagree with this. The touchscreen is great for the vast majority of things it replaces. The only physical controls I ever miss are for temperature (which is a very minor complaint) and windshield wipers (though I would also accept auto wipers that actually work). I do think the UI smoothnes…
Man I don’t drive with a passenger enough to care about ui animations on my car. I just want to set the fan speed and move on... preferably without looking.
When I rented a Tesla I recall being able to set all these controls with my voice.
Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#93Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#94How would one go from making no cars at all, not even parts, to making them?
Tesla started with a Lotus design and went from there. Lotus produced "gliders" for them for many years. I think apple could do the same.
Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#95"It remains unclear who would assemble an Apple-branded car, but sources have said they expect the company to rely on a manufacturing partner to build vehicles." Does Apple have enough money (cash, line of credit capability) to simply buy an automaker? I can see where it would make the most sense to partner but having an option to buy at a later point could bring advantages to Apple.
They do not have to buy an automaker. There is for example "Magna" a canadian-austrian automotive supplier [0][1] which also produces complete cars for their customers (contract manufacturing) [2]. Magna has started producing electric vehicles recently, for example the Jaguar i-Pace. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_International [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Steyr [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M…
This sounds much more like than Apple buying a manufacturer and optimizing its supply chain -- its like the ultimate form of pushing inventory costs upstream.
Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Apple has $191.83 billion in cash, according to its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings I would say so. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/apple-q4-cash-hoard-heres-ho...
(GM's market cap is $58.98 billion right now, for comparison's sake.)
Yes, but GM also comes with $128 billion in debt.
Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#97FAANGs really need to expand into more and more industries if they expect to continue their hypergrowth. Apple, at 6% of SPY, especially.
They need it, I'm not sure if we, the rest of humanity, need them to.
Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#98The Tesla Model 3 already embodies the minimalism, software focus, and vertical integration that have driven Apple's success in the phone market. Right down to the custom SoC and capacitive touchscreen in lieu of buttons. I'm really curious what Apple's differentiators will be. Also, 2024 still seems aggressive to deploy self-driving for real.
>I'm really curious what Apple's differentiators will be. There's room for more than one car company like this. If Apple brings high quality, tight fit and finish, elegant design, software focus, vertical integration (including their new M1 processor tech), logistics support (charging station network, maintenance, etc), and "next-level batteries" to the mix, then I'm sure they'll find space in the market. If Apple ca…
The processor tech isn't going to do much for cars. They could get by with something cheaper no doubt. I don't think anyone really cares about clock speed or processor efficiency in a car because you're not really doing anything that last decades' processors couldn't handle (especially with less bloated code bases). Maybe face recognition + key fob presence to authenticate and start the car.
I don't know if Apple's quality is going to translate to cars either unless they poach a bunch of people. Safety features will compromise the quality at some point, but maybe they're good enough to work around it elegantly.
Plus people paid a premium for Apple's quality, but are they willing to do so when that premium is multiple thousands of dollars extra for a car? They could afford low/zero cost financing if they wanted to.
Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#99I still can’t see Apple producing a car. The company has a history of releasing a product and then letting it wither on the vine of innovation. More like technology for a car, or teaming up on some connected technology, but they won’t make the car.
Re: Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes ‘next level’ battery tech: sources
#100Apple has been in and out of the car game for a few years now, with executives coming and going. What I'm about to say will be as meaningful as this hear-say article, but I feel that Apple management, and its shareholders, have no idea what it means to build a car. Things like this need 100% commitment from the management, Cook just doesn't seem like the guy to do it.
> but I feel that Apple management, and its shareholders, have no idea what it means to build a car I feel like people pretend that building a car is way harder than it actually is in 2020. All the components to build a car are readily available. A person can buy the parts on their own and put them together in their garage. It isn't like they have to go get a pick axe and start mining ore to create everything from sc…
I work for a tier 1 EV supplier, I've spent 2 months in Hyundai's Namyang R&D center, several weeks at Aston Martin's facilities, and some others, you undersold it by A LOT. Ford, GM and other veterans on the industry have long lost their original spirit, just like any other company, but what they have is established processes and supply chain management, and that takes decades to do right. You can ship a 1st gen iPhone without a working camera, vehicle recalls hit you much harder.