GM continues to hire current and former Apple employees as it rejects CarPlay from its EVs. General Motors has hired former directors of Apple Pay and iCloud to work on GM’s new software and services division, according to a source who shared hiring details with 9to5Mac.
Prior to leaving Apple in January, Peter Stern was widely considered the eventual successor to Apple Services boss Eddy Cue. Fast-forward to today and Stern has popped back up as the new head of software and services integration at Ford.
Here’s a twist in the ongoing story of GM and CarPlay. General Motors has hired Mike Abbott to run its software team, the company announced today. That’s the same Mike Abbott who just left Apple after spending five years in charge of iCloud software.
Apple’s car ambitions range from replacing your infotainment system with the iPhone to someday selling self-driving electric vehicles. Not every auto exec is convinced Apple will ever cross the finish line to shipping its own car, however. Meanwhile, more automakers are continuing to adopt Apple CarPlay even as the company teases its next grand vision for taking over your car software.
Apple has lost a senior member of its autonomous electric car team to a startup focused on electric aviation. Michael Schwekutsch, who left Tesla to join Apple as senior director of engineering for Special Projects Group in 2019, has left the company to work for Archer. This is just the latest in a revolving door situation surrounding Apple’s years-long effort to develop an electric vehicle with self-driving features.
Nearly three years ago, Apple made news when it poached a prominent Samsung executive in charge of next-generation battery development. Fast forward to now and that same battery guru has been poached again — only this time by a major carmaker.
Apple is currently determined to ship an electric car that can drive its passengers around within the next four years, according to reporting from Bloomberg. The latest report emphasizes both the features and pacing set by current leadership over the project at Apple.
NASA is developing an all-electric experimental plane called the X-57 Maxwell as part of an effort to share insight with regulators before EV planes establish a market. Propellers for the electric X-plane recently completed wind tunnel testing at the Langley Research Center in Virginia.
Last year Porsche and Apple collaborated to integrate Apple Music streaming directly in the first all-electric Taycan. Now the German automaker and Apple are extending the partnership to bring new features to Porsche’s first electric vehicle. Apple Music’s time-synced lyrics feature will now be viewable on the passenger display inside the Porsche Taycan, and Apple Podcasts is directly integrating with an infotainment system for the first time.
Nissan has a transformation plan to achieve sustainable growth and profitability by the end of 2023. The all-new Nissan Ariya crossover electric vehicle is a part of that plan, and the infotainment center tech inside is ready for the modern driver.
Apple doesn’t appear to be slowing down on its mysterious self-driving car technology testing. As noted in a new report on Uber’s fatal accident involving an autonomous vehicle, the Financial Times includes new data on how many self-driving cars Apple may be testing in California.
Apple has dramatically increased the number of self driving vehicles it is testing, Bloomberg reports. The company first received approval from state officials last spring to test three self driving cars on the road, but new inquiries to the California DMW show Apple has since expanded its test fleet to 27 vehicles total.
Rumors that Apple plans to develop and market a self-driving vehicle may have gone cold, but CEO Tim Cook has publicly acknowledged that the company is working on a ‘large project’ around autonomous systems.
The latest detail in the story comes via Jalopnik which reports that Apple may have leased Chrysler’s old proving grounds which could be used for testing autonomous cars.
A Tesla-style concept of the Apple Car from CarWow
Apple’s car project has gone quiet over the last few months after frequent reports detailed the company’s efforts to develop an electric vehicle. Now there’s a new development via Business Insider: Apple has registered with the state of California to test self-driving vehicles.
Tim Cook, Steve Jobs, and Bob Mansfield during 2010 iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ press conference
Apple’s electric vehicle project may be gaining steam thanks to a recent change in staff at the top. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple has recruited Bob Mansfield out of retirement and back to the company to lead the ‘Project Titan’ Apple Car team. Mansfield previously led Apple’s hardware team before moving to a special projects role then an advisor position. Pulling Mansfield out of retirement to work on the Apple Car effort suggests the company strongly intends to bring an electric vehicle to market as the former exec has a reputation for getting the job done.
A Tesla-style concept of the Apple Car from CarWow
News around Project Titan, the name given to Apple’s electric vehicle ambitions has been relatively quiet lately despite the anticipated introduction in 2020 inching closer by the day. That may be because the introduction target for Apple Car has moved back one year to 2021. Included in a profile of three brothers who are said to have worked on the Apple Car initiative, The Information includes this detail:
If Apple is going to produce an electric vehicle like Tesla, then naturally Apple will want to provide customers with a way to recharge away from home without relying on infrastructure from third parties. Reuters now reports that Apple is showing interest in such charging stations as it’s talking to existing companies and hiring engineers with experience in building them.
Tim Cook and company lead Apple’s annual shareholders meeting of 2016 this morning, and as usual there were some interesting questions and answers between those in attendance. Like last year, Apple’s rumored electric vehicle project came up, only the Apple CEO didn’t automatically defer to CarPlay this go around.
Earlier this year at CES, Seth and I had the opportunity to test drive the new Chevy Volt hybrid (okay, I actually just held the camera in the back seat) which has one of the best CarPlay screen we’ve seen yet. Check out our hands-on experience with the Volt’s very nice display from our test drive below …
As Electrek covers, the automobile landscape is clearly changing with electric vehicles replacing gas-powered cars, autonomous features potentially replacing drivers, and iPhone-maker Apple developing an EV of its own. But Porsche wants no part in that future says CEO Oliver Blume. Reuters reports that Blume told German media this week essentially that a Porsche is meant to be driven, and an iPhone is meant for your pocket, not the road:
“One wants to drive a Porsche by oneself,” Blume said in an interview with regional newspaper Westfalen-Blatt published on Monday.
“An iPhone belongs in your pocket, not on the road,” Blume added, saying that Porsche did not need to team up with any big technology companies.
While Blume was using the iPhone line largely to explain away the need for computerized vehicles and embrace the nature of high-performance cars like Porsches, it’s a curious one as the new 911 features Apple’s CarPlay …
Speaking today on CNBC, Ferrari chairman and Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne spoke affirmatively when asked if he believes Apple will make a car. The Ferrari boss explained that he believes the automobile space is one in which Apple can exhibit its skills, clarifying that he believes Apple will have a car assembled rather than building it on their own. Marchionne added that Apple has not approached Fiat for being its partner for assembling a car. Expand Expanding Close