Recently, there has been new news about Apple's car manufacturing. It is said that they are preparing to abandon the L3 level high-speed fully autonomous driving function and switch to L2+assisted driving that drivers can take over at any time, aligning with Tesla's current level. The release time has also been further delayed by two years to 2028.
Ten years have passed, and Apple's car making project has become much more low-key from its initial ambition, with even faint signs of giving up. What is this for?
From the development of intelligent vehicles in recent years, the first and foremost issue is undoubtedly the lack of technical proficiency. Autonomous driving technology is now a hot topic in the technology industry, and the research and development process requires data and testing to support it. However, it seems that Apple's research and development in this field has not been as smooth as expected. Although they can elevate the level of autonomous driving to L2 level for assisted driving, they still have to face a bunch of technical challenges.
For example, when developing autonomous driving technology, big data plays a crucial role. Apple needs to collect and analyze a large amount of actual road data in order to improve algorithms and software. But this process is both time-consuming and labor-intensive, and requires high standards and requirements for data quality. It takes a lot of effort to complete this set.
For example, the testing phase requires strict testing of autonomous driving technology repeatedly under various road conditions to ensure both safety and stability in practical applications. Behind this is not only a huge investment in manpower and material resources, but also the need to deal with various uncertain factors, such as weather changes, peak traffic, and so on.
At the same time, the development of the autonomous vehicle market is changing with each passing day, and major manufacturers and Internet giants have stepped down to compete in order to occupy a place in this emerging field. In this context, brands such as Tesla and BYD have gained a certain market share through their first mover advantage.
Compared with Tesla and BYD, Apple's performance in the autonomous vehicle market is slightly awkward. Although Apple has strong mobile phone manufacturing technology strength and rich capital flow reserves, it has a feeling of not being effective in the field of autonomous driving.
The autonomous vehicle market is now so competitive that all major brands want a piece of the cake. In four years, it will definitely be even harder for Apple Motors to stand firm. After all, there are already so many technically advanced and market tested cars ahead, why take the risk of choosing a new one? Apple may also understand in its own heart that no matter how well a phone is made, it may not necessarily be affordable in the automotive industry.