Apple’s former Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive was reportedly working on designs for Apple’s long-rumored self-driving Apple Car before leaving the company in 2019, according to a report last year.
It was said that Ive had been constructing an Apple Car prototype in the company’s design labs, which was constructed out of wood and leather to be presented to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The most visibly notable feature of the model, the report claimed, was that Ive insisted it should not have a steering wheel, with the electric vehicle relying heavily on voice-control.
Apple’s secret Project Titan program is back in the news as reports claim production of the Apple-branded self-driving car could begin as soon as 2024 following the development of a new battery design that would “radically” reduce the cost of the electric car batteries as well as increasing the vehicle’s range.
Apple started poaching Tesla engineers almost five years ago for its automotive project. It is understood that since then, Apple had shifted its focus from building a car to developing autonomous vehicle software, but after various changes in its approach, the company is now said to have its sights back on releasing its own vehicle for consumers.
The vehicle is expected to have a strong focus on self-driving technology, but additional details are few and far between.