Apple Car Release Speculation
If Apple is intending to actually ship an “Apple Car,” there may be a few more years to wait until it is unveiled to the public for the first time.
Reports from 2016 suggested Apple was aiming for a 2020 rollout, but issues forced a delay into 2021, such as the departure of project leader Steve Zadesky.
It was also unclear at the time whether Apple’s first attempt at a car would include some level of self-driving capability, though the reporting at the time was just before Apple started its efforts to test the system on public roads.
Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo proposed in August 2018 Apple will create a shipping consumer product under “Project Titan” , with the “Apple Car” launch window stretching as far as into 2025. There was no indication as to how the dates were determined by Kuo, but he wrote he expects Apple to take advantage of tectonic shifts in the automotive market.
The analyst also suggests the vehicle project could help propel Apple towards a $2 trillion valuation.
Reports in late 2020 indicate Apple may be ahead of schedule and a product may be ready by 2024. It could feature a radical new battery design that would reduce cost and extend driving range.
Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that a release is unlikely before 2025, that most rumors about a launch prior to that have been “overhyped.” Given that there have been no manufacturers selected, TF Securities estimates that if “everything goes well” a launch between 2025 and 2027 is likely.
Is Applecare+ Worth It
Using the prices above, you can do a cost-benefit analysis for yourself. It mostly depends on how often you expect to have to use AppleCare+.
Take the iPhone SE. An out-of-warranty screen repair costs $129 / £137 / AU$219, while AppleCare+ plus a repair deductible costs $108 / £104 / AU$174. The difference is small enough that you could risk paying an extra $21 / £33 / AU$45 in case you never have to get any repairs. But if you break your screen twice in three years, you’re looking at $137 / £129 / AU$219 versus $258 / £274 / AU$438.
On the other hand, you can look at the iPad Pro. $129 / £129 / AU$199 upfront plus $49 / £39 / AU$65 for a damaged screen is a steal compared to $649 / £616 / AU$1079, making it cost-effective even for one accident. On the other hand, an iPad kept at home is less likely to get damaged than an iPhone you take out into the world every day.
You can also pay month-to-month for your iPhone or iPad in the US. The problem is that you’ll have spent as much as the upfront cost for 36 months in about 20 months, so it isn’t exactly cost-effective.
Whichever device you’re thinking about insuring, you have to play the odds. Apple products are already expensive enough, and the cost of a subscription could go towards an upgrade in other areas instead. But it only takes one uninsured accident to have instant regret.
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What Exactly Is It
It was once thought that Apple was making a car, then just an “autonomous driving platform”, now it seems rumors have swung back round to the former. From Bloomberg:
The Cupertino, California-based technology giant has a small team of hardware engineers developing drive systems, vehicle interior, and external car body designs with the goal of eventually shipping a vehicle.
From a report in :
“The first Apple Cars will not be designed to have a driver,” said one source with knowledge of the current plan. “These will be autonomous, electric vehicles designed to operate without a driver and focused on the last mile.” That could mean Apple cars, at least initially, could focus on package food delivery operations and firms incorporating robotaxis.
Recent rumors Apple Car could be built around Hyundai’s E-GMP electric vehicle platform seem to reiterate that Apple is planning to release an actual vehicle, as opposed to some kind of autonomous driving platform that could be licensed to existing carmakers.
But make no mistake, right now, rumors indicate Apple Car is a real, tangible vehicle with seats and a steering wheel, not an autonomous driving platform to be licensed to other car manufacturers. There is, however, always a possibility Apple could revert back to this going forward.
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Apple Car Development History
Apple’s interest in a car dates back to before the original iPhone, and Apple executives discussed building a car before the device launched. Steve Jobs considered developing an Apple car, and even met with the manufacturer of the lightweight, inexpensive “V-Vehicle” in 2010, but is said to have ultimately decided not to work on a car in 2008, preferring instead to focus development on the iPhone.
With the iPhone now secure as Apple’s most profitable device, Apple has turned to other avenues of research and development, once again exploring the possibility of a car-related project. The first details on the Apple Car started leaking out at the beginning of 2015.
In February of 2015, a mysterious van leased to Apple was spotted driving around streets in Northern California. The van had a camera rig attached to it with multiple cameras, leading to speculation that Apple was using it to develop a product similar to Google Street View. More outlandish speculation ranged towards the possibility of a self-driving vehicle, but people who spotted the vans quickly determined the vans had drivers. Apple later came out and said the vans were related to a mapping project, but they were undoubtedly the catalyst that led to the discovery of Apple’s secret on a car.
Apple Hiring Car Industry Veterans And Specialists
Perhaps the clearest sign of Apple’s interest in the car industry is the number of hires it’s made from that field over the years.
In December 2018, the company hired Andrew Kim – a senior designer at Tesla. He has also worked at Microsoft on the design of Windows 10 UI the HoloLens and Xbox One S.
Doug Field, who was previously VP of Mac hardware, then moved to Tesla to become the chief vehicle engineer, returned to Apple in August 2018.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in , Tim Cook hired Doug Betts, a veteran of the car industry. Doug Betts has 25 years of experience working for Nissan and Toyota from 2007 until last year, he was senior vice-president of Global Quality at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The automobile expert has changed his LinkedIn profile. He describes his current job as “operation-Apple Inc.”, which could be interpreted as evidence to back up the WSJ report. On the other hand, this cryptic statement could mean a lot of things.
This wasn’t the first car-related hire. Since February 2015, Apple seems to have been quietly cherry-picking automobile industry experts – such as Paul Furgale, the Swiss researcher who led the V-Charge project developing self-parking cars.
A lawsuit that was filed in February 2015 claimed that Apple engaged in an “aggressive campaign” to poach engineers from electric car battery maker A123 Systems.
That doesn’t mean that the project is over by any means, though.
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How Much Does It Cost And What Does It Cover
The AppleCare Protection Plan is available for Apple TV 4 and Apple TV 4K and costs $39. Notably, this isnt an insurance plan and simply a warranty extension with better support options. This means there is no associated fee attached for repairs.
- Up to two years of Apple-certified service and support coverage
- 24/7 priority access to technical support
- Global repair coverage
- Also covers included Siri Remote and power cord
- Software support
Some Kind Of Car Technology But Not A Car
The first suggestion is that Apple wants to create some kind of car tech, but not go as far as actually making a car. Some believe Apples primary interest is in the in-car experience as the world transitions to self-driving cars a kind of CarPlay on steroids, if you will. Others believe there is enough evidence that Apple is working on self-driving technology, but that it will license this to other companies, rather than make its own car.
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We May Never See The Apple Car
Before Reuters dropped its bombshell Decemober 2020 report insisting that the Apple Car was back on, there was a sense that the project was likely to be called off. According to CNBC in 2019, the company laid off 200 staff who had been working on the iCar at the end of January 2019, and this followed similar layoffs back in 2016.
CNBC had the news confirmed by an Apple spokesperson and some “people familiar with the group” who said that some of the autonomous systems team would be “moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives”.
However, at the time the spokesperson told CNBC that Apple believes “there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems,” and described the project as “the most ambitious machine learning project ever”.
Cost Of Applecare+ For Apple Watch
AppleCare+ for Apple Watch pricing depends on which model you have:
- Apple Watch Series 6: $79, or $3.99 per month
- Apple Watch SE: $79, or $3.99 per month
- Apple Watch Series 3: $49, or $2.49 per month
- Apple Watch Nike: $79, or $3.99 per month
- Apple Watch Hermes: $149, or $4.99 per month
- Apple Watch Edition: $149, or $4.99 per month
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Is Applecare Worth It A Detailed Guide With Pricing
Apple builds its devices hardware and software to be elegant yet resilient, but sometimes your iPhone loses the battle against gravity or runs into an unexpected bug. For best results, its wise to rely on Apple experts for service and repair rather than third-party sources.
This can be an expensive affair if you dont have AppleCare or AppleCare+ by your side.
AppleCare plans can start to add up in price themselves this leads many to ask is AppleCare+ really worth it?
Between the initial cost, deductibles, and varying prices across products, it starts to get pretty confusing.
So, lets dive in and find out if AppleCare is worth it.
The Alternatives: Just Get A Good Case
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AppleCare+ isnt the only insurance game in town, either. You have a few other options for protecting your purchase.
We wont judge you for breaking your phonesome people just lead active lives, and phones have gotten terribly delicate. But if you know youre going to break it often, a good case is probably your most cost effective option.
Image Credit: Rokas Tenys/Shutterstock.com, evka119/Shutterstock.com.
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Applecare Plus With Theft And Loss
If you live in the USA then you also have the AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss plan available for iPhone. This has all the features of the standard AppleCare+ plan, but adds on two incidents of theft or loss each year, with an excess fee of $149 for each one.
AppleCare Plus with Theft and Loss is available only for the iPhone, and only in the US.
Is Apple Carplay Free On Bmw
BMW became the first carmaker to make Apple CarPlay a subscription service in July 2019, with customers having to pay a fee of £85 for a full year, £255 for three years, or £295 for unlimited access.
Now, its free and all 2021 BMW models also get the car keys integration which will be a huge bonus.
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What Tim Cook Says About The Apple Car
As we mentioned above, in April 2021 Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke to Kara Swisher for the Sway podcast in which he made some mention of automomous cars, although he didn’t go so far as to reveal Apple’s plans in the field.
In that interview he said: “The autonomy itself is a core technology, in my view. If you sort of step back, the car, in a lot of ways, is a robot. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there’s lots of things you can do with autonomy. And weâll see what Apple does.”
He also said: “We love to integrate hardware, software and services, and find the intersection points of those because we think thatâs where the magic occurs. And we love to own the primary technology that’s around that.”
Cook previously sat down with Bloomberg in June 2017 to discuss autonomous driving: Talking about the project, Cook revealed that Apple is “focusing on autonomous systems” and that “it’s a core technology that we view as very important. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects. It’s probably one of the most difficult AI projects to actually work on”.
Just as in the 2021 interview, in 2017 Cook didn’t confirm or deny whether Apple is working on producing an iCar, driverless or otherwise, or whether the technology will be used by existing car manufacturers. “We’ll see where it takes us. We’re not really saying from a product point of view what we will do.”
While this isn’t confirmation that Apple is working on a self-driving car, it’s not a huge leap to make either.
Do I Have To Pay For Applecare+ Up Front
Not anymore! Apple offers a monthly recurring payment plan for AppleCare+ over a 24-month period. Pricing varies depending on the cost of AppleCare+ for your device, but for a $199 plan youll pay $9.99 per month, or for a $299 plan youll pay $14.99 per month.
Youll eventually end up paying more for AppleCare+ if you pay monthly, in other words.
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Applecare+ For Homepod Airpods Airpods Max And Ipod Touch
The plan for all music accessories by Apple, whether the HomePod, HomePod Mini, all AirPods, Beat earphones/headphones, AirPods Max, and iPod Touch, offers two years extended coverage from the AppleCare+ purchase date.
The list of all included AirPods and Beats devices
- AirPods
How Do I Buy Applecare+ For Products I Didnt Buy Directly From Apple
The easiest way is online. Apples site has a page to Check Your Service and Support Coverage. Enter your devices serial number and itll tell you if you can still buy AppleCare+ and walk you through the process of purchasing and registering your plan.
Keep in mind that buying an AppleCare+ plan after the fact often means you have to complete a diagnostic test on the device. After all, Apple has to make sure youre not trying to buy coverage on a device thats already broken. So do it right away, just in case.
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Buy An Applecare Plan On Your Device
Project Titan: Will There Be Hardware
Reports about whether Apple will bring a new car model to market or if Project Titan will simply be an autonomous vehicle system have been mixed. On April 17, Reuters reported that the company was in talks with at least four companies to supply their lidar sensors for its upcoming self-driving car. Appleâs current fleet of prototype cars are mounted with units from Velodyne Inc. but that could change in the future.
The anonymous sources in Reutersâ reporting stated that Apple is demanding a ârevolutionary design,â from the unnamed suppliers. This could suggest that the company wants to sell a line of its own specialized sensors that consumers might be able to retrofit their cars with. Lidar technology bounces laser pulses in a field of view to create an image of the surrounding environment, which provides data for a car to autonomously navigate a road.
A February issue of the German publication Manager Magazin claims that Project Titan engineers will go many steps further than just a lidar system. The publication reported that employees have created an electric van prototype with black and silver paint choices, âdesigned in the typical industrial design of the iPhone.â
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Apple Exec Outlines Self
Ruslan Salakhutdinov, Apple’s director of artificial intelligence research, attended the NIPS conference in December 2017 and spoke at length about several projects the company has been working on. One has been disclosed before but several were news to the Apple-following public.
Conference visitors heard about software that can identify pedestrians from camera images even if the camera is splashed with water and the pedestrian obscured by a parked car, and Apple has been collecting data for detailed digital maps of car-relevant features such as lights and road markings.
Wired has a full write-up of the talk.
Aftermarket Head Unit: Installing Carplay On Older Vehicles
By older vehicles, we simply mean vehicles not equipped with Apple CarPlay so, no, your 2016 BMW is not an old car .
Fortunately, you dont need to be shopping for a new car to take advantage of CarPlay, but its going to cost you both money and time for the conversion. There are plenty of great aftermarket head units available hovering around the $400 range, going up to $1000 and beyond.
Check out these new head units recommended by thewirecutter.com.
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