You Didn’t Want an Apple Car Anyway
Back at the end of February, we learned that Apple had finally scrapped its years-long self-driving electric vehicle project, codenamed Project Titan. For more than 10 years, Apple has been slowly moving toward its goal of adding a car to its product line, with the dream of passengers being able to use their iPhones, iPads, and Macs in an Apple Car without the need for either of them. drive.
While it seems like the iCar will never hit Apple Stores, we can get an idea of what it could look like. In fact, we know about two of the design masterminds behind Project Titan thanks to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman . And the results, admittedly, are not very apple-like.
According to Gurman’s sources, the concept for both projects was a “contour bubble”: four drivers would be able to sit inside a car with seats modeled after high-end vehicles such as private jets and limousines. From here, the actual design of the car could have gone in one of two directions: the first, developed around 2020, was modeled after the Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle (pictured below), a rounded minivan that admittedly looks like something from ” Black Mirror ” or any other product created by Netflix. science fiction film.
Specifically, Gurman’s source says that this version of the Apple car looked like a “futuristic van with rounded edges, but it had jet black windows with adjustable tint. There was an all-glass sunroof, pure white bodywork and whitewall tires. with a black center. The front and rear were the same, so it always felt like you were driving forward.”
The second style was initiated by Jony Ive, the former design director of Apple, whose design for the 1950s Volkswagen Microbus was nicknamed “Bread Loaf.” I can’t lie: I love it. This one gives the “iMac of cars” and I can’t help but feel like I’d be very tempted to buy it if I were in this imaginary Apple car market.
However, the design has morphed again, this time into something reminiscent of the 2017 Volkswagen ID Buzz. (I don’t really like this option.) Gurman says this design was shown off internally before VW even announced its car, which is interesting since some Project Titan employees reportedly left for VW in the mid-2010s .
That’s all we know for now. But between the two solid designs Apple has used, neither looks very Apple, at least not in the way you might imagine when you think of the Apple Car. Most of us were probably thinking of something sleek and sporty rather than boxy, roomy and comfortable. But perhaps Apple was more of a fun car for everyone than a car for people who liked to show off. Who am I kidding: Apple Car owners will show off no matter what the car looks like.