The Apple Car project has been modified many times over the last few years.
According to the company, the car will be autonomous on highways but not on city streets.
Apple is still looking for a partner to supply the platform and powertrain.
Apple has announced further modifications to its autonomous vehicle project, now saying deliveries are not expected before 2026.
In addition to this 1-year delay, the company says the car will not be as autonomous as it had previously hoped.
Indeed, the initial plans called for a vehicle capable of level-5 autonomous driving, which means it wouldn’t need to be fitted with a steering wheel and pedals.
This has now changed since Apple says the car will be fully autonomous only on highways, thus requiring normal controls for the driver to be in control when driving around town.
Despite this new target, the technology that is being developed for this car hasn’t changed, which means that the Denali onboard computer is likely to make it to production.
In control of all of the vehicle’s driver assistance features, this computer is said to be as powerful as four of Apple’s most powerful Mac chips combined.
Unlike Tesla, Apple believes autonomous driving requires more data than cameras alone can provide, which is why its car will be fitted with radars and a Lidar. On the other hand, its technology will rely on artificial intelligence, just like Tesla’s.
Since Apple has never made a car before, the company is hoping to find a partner with experience in the automotive industry to supply the platform and the electric powertrain for this project.
This has been the cause of many previous delays when talks with automakers such as Toyota and BYD fell through a few months back and it seems that Apple still has yet to find a partner.
When it does arrive on the market, the Apple Car should be offered starting close to $100,000 in the United States, which could make it compete with the Tesla Model S and the Mercedes EQS.
