In an interview released Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared to say that Apple doesn’t want to only develop software for an electric and autonomous car, but create the whole vehicle — possibly including the hardware and hubcaps.
- Cook was careful not to confirm, or deny, that the iPhone company was in fact developing an iCar (a presumed name), but that Apple loves to own and create the “primary technology” which “integrate hardware, software and services” of its products.
What did Tim Cook say?
Tech journalists Kara Swisher, the host of The New York Times podcast “Sway,” spoke with the Apple chief executive about the future of the tech company in an interview on Monday’s podcast. The “Sway” host asked Cook about changes coming to the App Store and pressed the CEO on tech innovation, including rumors of an electric Apple car.
Swisher said that Apple has purchased Drive AI — “self-driving startup” — and has been testing autonomous vehicle technology, instigating a conversation with Cook about what could be in store for tech giant, according to The New York Times.
- “In terms of the work that we’re doing there, obviously, I’m going to be a little coy on that,” Cook said, according to a transcript of the podcast, careful to not talk about Apple products not yet — or possibly never to be — on the market. “If you sort of step back, the car, in a lot of ways, is a robot. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there’s lots of things you can do with autonomy. And we’ll see what Apple does.”
Swisher pressed him, asking more directly, “Would that be in the form of a car or the technology within a car?”
Cook said he wouldn’t answer but keeps talking anyway.
- “We love to integrate hardware, software and services — and find the intersection points of those — because we think that’s where the magic occurs,” the Apple CEO said. “And so that’s what we love to do. And we love to own the primary technology that’s around that.”
While Cook’s “coy” response wasn’t a confirmation that Apple was on its way to launching Siri’s latest four-wheeled device, Cook didn’t correct Swisher when she said he must be talking about a future electric and autonomous car produced by Apple.
The Apple executive didn’t give a date on when the tech company would — or wouldn’t — release Siri’s new ride.
When would Apple make an iCar?
Reuters has reported that Apple was eyeing 2024 as the year to produce its own electric passenger vehicle.