Is Apple Working On A Self-Driving Car?

| Technology

Is Apple Working On A Self-Driving Car?

It looks like we finally have confirmation that Apple is gearing up to make a move into the car industry.

The state of California has given Apple the green light to start testing autonomous vehicles and have given the tech giant a permit to conduct test drives in three vehicles with six drivers.

Apple will be test driving the 2015 Lexus RX450h SUV with their self-driving car technology.

Rumours have been flying around for ages regarding Apple making a move into the car industry. In recent years, Apple has recruited many car experts, which has only intensified the rumours.

It was originally believed that Apple was going to be working on building their own car, however now the majority of experts agree that Apple are solely focusing on the software for self-driving cars, so it isn’t likely that we will be seeing an iCar anytime soon.  

Apple is yet to announce that it is working on a self-driving or electric car, instead directing comments to a statement the company made last year which said “Apple is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation,” but DMV records and California state officials has confirmed that they have given Apple a permit to start testing autonomous vehicles.

Apple joins a growing list of traditional car manufacturers, start-ups and technology companies including Ford, Tesla and Google’s parent company Alphabet, all racing to be the first to have a commercially viable autonomous car on the road.

It isn’t clear when Apple plans to begin testing but as of Friday 14th April, Apple has a permit to test three cars in California. 

Luke Stanley