On November 19, according to Bloomberg, according to people familiar with the matter, apple is accelerating the development of its electric vehicles, and is re focusing the project on fully automatic driving ability, aiming to help solve the technical challenges perplexing the automotive industry.

It is understood that Apple's internal goal is to launch its autopilot in four years, much faster than many engineers planned for five to seven years earlier this year.

Apple has recently made a key milepost in developing the automatic driving system of the car's bottom, people familiar with the matter said. Apple believes that the company has completed most of the core work of the processor ultimately intended to be used in the first generation of cars.

Re focus on the development of fully automatic driving vehicle

In the past few years, Apple's automobile team has explored two ways at the same time: one is to develop cars with limited automatic driving ability, focusing on functions such as automatic steering and acceleration, similar to most of Tesla's current cars; The second is to develop models with full automatic driving ability without any manual intervention.

Under the leadership of Kevin Lynch, the recently appointed director of Apple watch software, engineers are now focusing on the second option. People familiar with the matter said Lynch is pushing ahead with the first car with a complete autopilot system.

Apple's automobile project is called "special projects group" or "project Titan". Since its inception in 2014, the project has experienced many strategic changes and executive turnover. In September this year, Doug field, the former head of the team, left the helm for Ford after three years. In choosing its successor, apple chose Lynch, an internal executive who is not a veteran in the automotive industry.

Technology and automobile giants have spent many years in the research and development of automatic driving, but their ability is still unsatisfactory. Tesla, the leader of the electric vehicle market, may take years to launch fully automatic driving. Google's Alphabet Waymo, a self driving car company, has encountered a series of executives' turnover in its efforts to develop the technology, and Uber sold its autopilot last year.

Apple's internal goal is to launch its autopilot in four years, much faster than many engineers planned for five to seven years earlier this year. But this time is still uncertain. Whether or not the company can achieve its goal in 2025 depends on whether the company can complete the development of the automatic driving system. There are obviously many challenges. If Apple fails to achieve its goal, it may delay the release of cars, or initially sell only low-tech cars.

Significant progress has been made in processor development

Apple's ideal car should have no steering wheel and pedals, and its interior will be designed around driverless. One option discussed within the company is that the interior is similar to the lifestyle vehicle of canoo, a upstart in the electric vehicle industry. In that car, passengers sit face to face on both sides of the car, just as they are in a limousine.

Apple has also explored the on-board infotainment system, which is likely to place a large touch screen similar to the iPad in the center of the car, so that users can interact with it throughout the ride. The car will also be deeply integrated with Apple's existing services and devices. Although Apple hopes to no longer have a standard steering wheel, the company has discussed a backup plan to equip the car with an emergency takeover mode.

Apple has recently made a key milepost in developing the automatic driving system of the car's bottom, people familiar with the matter said. Apple believes that the company has completed most of the core work of the processor ultimately intended to be used in the first generation of cars.

The chip was designed by Apple's Silicon engineering team, not the automotive team. The silicon engineering team designed processors for the iPhone, iPad and MAC. This work includes polishing the underlying software running on the chip to support autonomous driving.

These developments may soon enter road testing. Apple plans to start using new processor designs and updated autopilot sensors in modified cars, which the company has spent years testing in California. The California motor vehicle administration confirmed that apple is currently testing its technology with 69 Lexus SUVs.

Apple's car chip is the most advanced component developed by the company. It is mainly composed of neural processors, which can deal with the artificial intelligence required for automatic driving. The capability of the chip means that it will run hot, which may require the development of more complex cooling systems.

Apple hopes to develop a car that allows customers to avoid driving fatigue on long trips. But for "outsiders" like apple, making real cars will require cooperation. The company has discussed the deal with several manufacturers and is considering the possibility of manufacturing its cars in the United States.

Ensuring safety remains a top priority
Even with these recent advances, it is considered very radical to create a fully autonomous car by 2025 within apple. Many people participating in the Titan project are skeptical about this timetable.

Security is one of the main obstacles to achieving this goal. Engineers involved in automobile research and development said that apple is seeking to establish stronger security measures than Tesla and waymo. This includes creating a lot of redundancy, that is, the ability of multi-layer backup systems to function to avoid safety and drive system failures.

Apple is actively recruiting engineers to test and develop security features. In a recent recruitment message, apple wrote: "the special project team is looking for experienced mechanical engineers to lead the development of mechanical systems with key safety functions. You will be able to use your passion to solve problems, help design safety systems, and lead the development and testing of these systems."

As part of its efforts to accelerate the automotive project, apple is recruiting more autopilot and automotive hardware engineers, including CJ Moore, the former autopilot software director of Tesla.

According to information obtained on LinkedIn and people familiar with the matter, in recent weeks, Apple has also hired Volvo's air conditioning system experts, Daimler trucks' managers, battery system engineers from karma automotive and other car manufacturers, sensor engineers from cruise, a subsidiary of general motors Automotive safety engineers from companies such as joyson safety systems, as well as many other engineers from Tesla.
Apple's recruitment information shows that the company is still hiring software engineers to focus on "human-computer interaction experience of automatic driving technology", which shows that the company is deeply developing the user interface of the car. The recruitment information also suggests that the software being developed will be based on technologies similar to the iPhone operating system.
In order to power Apple cars, Apple has discussed compatibility with the combined charging system (CCS). This will allow apple to enter a huge global charger network. But this approach will be different from the proprietary charging system developed by the company for the iPhone and apple watch.

Apple internally debated several different business models for its cars, including the creation of an autonomous fleet to compete with companies such as Uber, LYFT and waymo. The company also discussed external designs similar to canoo. However, it is more likely that Apple will provide these cars to individual users.

Can new executives take the lead?
Achieving these goals will not be easy. Apple's automobile project has suffered development challenges, leadership difficulties, layoffs and delays in its seven-year history. In 2018, field joined apple from Tesla, setting off an upsurge, but ended in failure. In addition to field himself, at least four executives of the project will leave in 2021.

Some members of Apple's auto team believe that after the retirement of former boss Bob Mansfield, field was annoyed at reporting to John giannandrea, head of artificial intelligence business. Mansfield had a part-time supervision of the automotive project, when he reported directly to Tim Cook, CEO.

Lynch is now the fifth executive in charge of Apple's auto project in recent seven years. Such executive changes are rare in apple. Take the virtual and augmented reality team as an example. The team starts at the same time as the automobile project, but it is always led by the same senior executives.

Nevertheless, considering Lynch's ability to help Apple watch become the company's core product, many engineers in the automotive team think his appointment is a good sign. Lynch reports to Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer.
Lynch was a software executive without experience in automotive hardware or automatic driving, but the former Tesla executives of the project will play key roles, including Michael schwekutsch and Stuart Bowers. Apple also hired Ulrich Kranz earlier this year, who previously led canoo and helped oversee the development of BMW electric vehicles.

When Lynch was selected to take over the car project, he was still responsible for the apple watch operating system and some health software teams. He continued to participate in high-level decision-making and focused most of his time on automobile projects. The question now is whether an executive in charge of one of Apple's last major events (smart watches) can turn the car into Apple's "next major event". （abosin）