A few days ago, there were rumours of Apple planning to release their first ever self-driving car sometime in 2024. A new report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo now claims that these plans have been pushed back a few years and that Apple will probably only release a car in 2025-2027 at the earliest.
In the report, Ming-Chi Kuo stated the following:
We predicted in a previous report that Apple will launch Apple Car in 2023–2025 […] However, our latest survey indicates that the current development schedule of Apple Car is not clear, and if development starts this year and everything goes well, it will be launched in 2025–2027 at the earliest. Due to changes in the EV/self-driving market and Apple’s high-quality standards, we would not be surprised if Apple Car’s launch schedule is postponed to 2028 or later.
Kuo also talked about tempering expectations for the Apple car, reminding everyone that not every Apple product has been a success so far (for example, the Apple HomePods). Kuo also noted that Apple will need to play a long game of catch up when competing with other self-driving car companies, who will have years of experience and lots of data collected by then.
In a Reuters report from a few days ago, Apple was supposedly working on a new “Monocell” battery technology that would reduce costs and improve range for their self-driving cars, however they are only rumours at this point and nothing is really confirmed.