Sources: Apple is planning to manufacture a car by 2024 which may include self-driving tech, internally developed lidar sensors, and “breakthrough” battery tech

Reuters 2020-12-23

Context & Ripple Effects

This report caps a five-year arc of leaks about Project Titan: back in 2015 Reuters reported Apple was gathering advice from carmakers and suppliers on parts and production methods, and by 2019 it was developing its own lidar sensor while evaluating four external suppliers. The new claim — an actual Apple-branded car targeted for 2024, with self-driving tech, in-house lidar, and 'breakthrough' battery tech — moves the story from research project to product plan.

The timing matters because the schedule was immediately contested: Ming-Chi Kuo argued within days that the unclear development timeline means a launch closer to 2025-2027, potentially slipping to 2028 if EV and self-driving markets shift (his analysis). Follow-on reporting that Apple is already in talks for next-generation lidar sensors suggests the sensor strategy remains in flux rather than settled.

First-order effects

Apple would enter the passenger-car market as a full OEM rather than a software supplier, competing directly with established automakers and EV startups on its own hardware.
The four lidar suppliers Apple evaluated in 2019 now face the prospect of losing Apple's business to an internally developed sensor, shrinking one of the most anticipated design wins in autonomous driving.

Second-order effects

If Apple's 'breakthrough' battery claim holds, incumbent EV makers and their cell suppliers face pricing and performance pressure at the exact moment Apple's brand and capital let it undercut on cost.
Automakers that had treated Apple as a potential infotainment or autonomy partner must decide whether to cooperate with or defend against a company that could become a rival OEM.

Third-order effects

A successful Apple car would extend the iPhone playbook — tight vertical integration of silicon, sensors, battery, and software under one brand — into automotive, pushing the industry toward platform economics where the vehicle is an accessory to an ecosystem.
The gap between the 2024 target and Kuo's 2025-2028 scenarios illustrates the structural hurdle for any new entrant: even Apple-scale resources collide with multi-year validation cycles, suggesting future entrants will increasingly buy existing platforms rather than build from scratch.

The trend: Consumer-tech companies are moving from supplying car software to building vehicles outright, with Apple's decade-long progression from research to a stated 2024 manufacturing target marking the most aggressive instance of the pattern.

Discussion

@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
looks like the Apple Car is definitely gonna charge like this now 🚘 https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
Some context: The Model 3 program's darkest days were last year. One year earlier in 2018, Apple had hired Doug Field, Tesla's top engineer not named Elon Musk, to help lead Project Titan. Apple has reportedly been continuing to hire Tesla employees ever since. https://twitter.co…
@nxthompson @nxthompson on x
Very excited for the Apple autonomous car. There's huge societal value in getting these things to work. So it's good, even if all it does is spur competition and innovation. Just don't make it charge only with a lightning port.
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
Elon Musk doesn't get along with Apple so keep that in mind when reading Musk's tweet. I suspect Musk can't stand the attention Apple has been getting the past 24 hours.
@scobleizer Robert Scoble on x
@elonmusk @wintonARK That decision could cost Apple a trillion dollars in next 15 years. Apple Maps will soon be totally inferior.
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
Here's the report. My point being advanced battery research could have huge benefits to Apple even if the car project fails on other fronts. https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@hassel_chris Chris Hassel on x
I've never once had battery issues with a car. Guarantee that would change if I drove an Apple car. https://twitter.com/...
@profgalloway Scott Galloway on x
Apple (again) working on a car. Car will cost $45k, including charger. Replacement charger will set you back $155k. https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
@vijayshekhar Vijay Shekhar Sharma on x
Apple Car ! In 4 years !! Only in black or white on launch day :-) https://www.reuters.com/...
@lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x
Sorry, but I still refuse to believe Apple will ever produce its own car. https://twitter.com/...
@alternatejones Alternate Jones on x
Apple's plans for an electric car in 2024 sounds a lot like Google's plans for an autonomous car way back in 2011.
@teslatested Zach on x
I'll switch to an Apple car in a heart beat. https://twitter.com/...
@model3owners @model3owners on x
Boy the Apple hate memes are flowing today over the renewed possibility over them making a car again...🤣🤣🤣 https://twitter.com/...
@jbarro Josh Barro on x
Apple CarPlay is better than any control interface an automaker has ever designed. I can see Apple designing a pleasant-to-use car that could earn a higher margin. But why not buy an existing automaker and just Apple-fy the design and control elements? https://twitter.com/...
@erinbiba Erin Biba on x
I keep seeing news about the Apple car coming in 2024 and all I can think about it when I see it is that we're gonna get to find out what it means when an automobile comes with planned obsolescence.
@model3owners @model3owners on x
Boy the Apple hate memes are flowing today over the renewed possibility over them making a car again...🤣🤣🤣 https://twitter.com/...
@garyblack00 Gary Black on x
2/ $AAPL 's brand is about individual productivity. Apple works on phones, tablets, computers, accessories. But can Apple work on self driving cars, against $TSLA $AMZN or $GOOG? To me it's a huge stretch. And 2024 is too late: TSLA self driving cars will be out long before that.
@whatthebit Stefan Constantine on x
If the Reuters article about the $AAPL car is true, it's pretty insane that Apple has somehow managed to build one gigantic battery vs the current methodology of basically strapping together hundreds of laptop batteries. The car is the boring innovation, it's the battery tech.
@greengart Avi Greengart on x
I'm not saying that this isn't true, and I understand that today's cars are computing platforms on wheels. Yet I still don't fully understand why Apple would want to build one. The structure of the industry is not at all adjacent to its current businesses. https://twitter.com/...
@brianroemmele Brian Roemmele on x
“Exclusive: Apple targets car production by 2024 and eyes “next level” battery technology”—Reuters Two very interesting acquisitions in 2021 will confirm these new Apple devices. This is much more than Project Titan. https://www.reuters.com/...
@thetrudz @thetrudz on x
I don't wanna see an Apple car until they figure out how to make Apple Music function for users who *own* music (own, not just stream) from iTunes days versus destroying our libraries over and over lmao. https://twitter.com/...
@teslacharts @teslacharts on x
Thought experiment: Tomorrow we learn that Apple and VW signed a joint development agreement. VW manufacturers the Apple car and VW uses Apple software across their entire existing fleet. What's $TSLA worth then? They make shitboxes in a tent and are DFL in autonomy.
@thetomzone @thetomzone on x
2024: wow I love my new apple car! 2026: huh why does my apple car now max out at half speed
@modeledbehavior Adam Ozimek on x
I don't understand why Apple would go after cars while skipping televisions. They are increasingly becoming computers, which is their wheelhouse & better economics. https://marginalrevolution.com/ ...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
We've been talking about an Apple car for ages. This thread still applies, I think. https://twitter.com/...
@andresegers Andr Segers on x
Can't wait until my iCar makes me login 3 different times just to start the damn thing https://twitter.com/...
@rdrv3 David ‘cyberdunk’ Ruddock on x
So this article explicitly says Apple wants to build a mass market consumer passenger vehicle. I just don't get it. Apple isn't even a manufacturing leader, they farm out production to Foxconn etc. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@mattlynley Matthew Lynley on x
Makes sense now why the iPad has lidar for no reason whatsoever. https://twitter.com/...
@upulie Stemlord on x
Spare us. I beg you. https://twitter.com/...
@omojuwa JJ. Omojuwa on x
So 2024 is the year you buy the body of your iCar and also pay for the tyres separately! https://twitter.com/...
@da_667 @da_667 on x
ah yes, because playing fast and loose with tons of hardware hurtling down the freeway is exactly what I want. https://twitter.com/...
@can @can on x
Would be a power move if Tim Apple tomorrow is like hey we are moving the HQ to Singapore and the Apple Park slowly lifts off the ground like the spaceship it actually is and lands next to the Dyson course there
@can @can on x
This is basically the Dyson car except real https://www.reuters.com/...
@discreetlatino Discreetmas on x
Siri asking what's my next destination https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@samabuelsamid Sam Abuelsamid on x
I can hardly wait, an apple car that can only be charged with a lightning cable at Apple charging stations and needs a battery replacement every two years https://twitter.com/...
@jonyiveparody @jonyiveparody on x
Wheels sold separately. https://twitter.com/...

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