Apple Car Expected in 2026 As It's Now a Sure Thing

The work on the Apple Car started in 2014 based on the information that emerged at that point, though the iPhone maker has never acknowledged this project.

Since then, the company has patented a continuously growing number of car-related systems and technologies while also bringing important names from the automotive industry on board. Some have already departed the company, while others are only now joining the tech giant, possibly as the work on the Apple Car makes progress.

CEO Tim Cook and the rest of the executives handle the car development as a high-priority project, and nobody at Apple is allowed to speak about it. As such, while we do know that an Apple Car is coming, no confirmation has ever been offered.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives believes Apple won't backtrack on the vehicle, as the project is now a sure thing. It's a matter of when, not if, he said in a recent interview, explaining that Apple Car could launch by 2026.

The timing seems to make sense.

The Apple Car was originally projected to see daylight by 2025, but most analysts, some of them with a good track on Apple scoops, said on several occasions that this was the earliest possible time for the vehicle to hit the streets.

In other words, Apple was indeed looking at 2025 as a possible release date, but any minor roadblock during the development stage would have pushed the unveiling to a later date.

Now Ives' new guess is that the Apple Car could launch a year later, so maybe the iPhone maker encountered more challenges and wants to ensure it gets everything right.

Previously, Ming-Chi Kuo, a highly reliable tech analyst, said the Apple Car would launch by 2025 at the earliest. Most recently, he explained that the date might have been pushed back, so the new 2026 release target seems to align with all these speculations.

The Apple Car project

People familiar with the matter originally said the Apple Car was supposed to be a self-driving vehicle specifically created to compete against the likes of Tesla.

With a heavy focus on technology, this new model would serve as an essential part of the Apple ecosystem, integrating seamlessly with other devices, such as the iPhone and the Apple Watch.

The patents filed by Apple in the last decade support this claim, though it goes without saying not all technologies described in these documents would make their way to the Apple Car. But some will certainly be available on the vehicle when it launches, especially as Apple wants services like Apple Maps to be an integral part of the driving experience.

Due to the challenges that it encountered during the development phase, Apple adjusted the Apple Car strategy and decided to hold back its aggressive push for self-driving capabilities. The latest reports on this front indicate that Apple might launch the first-generation Apple Car with limited self-driving capabilities, as the autonomous capabilities could only be enabled on highways. The company would eventually come up with a fully autonomous version of the Apple Car by the end of the decade.

In fact, Apple's car project received a major downgrade for the first generation. Instead of a living room of wheels benefitting from self-driving capabilities, the Apple Car could come with a traditional cabin that uses the old-school steering wheel and pedals. It'd still run on an electric motor and sport a heavy focus on technology, but the driver will get a conventional interior and be in charge of 90 percent of the time in the car.

Apple did not abandon its plan to bring this living room on wheels to the market, so the upgraded model expected by the end of the decade could eventually pioneer this transformation, assuming Apple's self-driving systems allow for permanent control of the car.

In the meantime, Apple wants to keep everything secret, despite all the rumors that a potential announcement could come in 2023. I highly doubt this is the case, as Apple wouldn’t take the wraps off such a massive project until it's certain the vehicle would be a hit.

A 2023 announcement is, therefore, very unlikely, considering the potential 2026 release date. If anything, Apple would rather come up with a teaser in 2025, one year before the launch, as it doesn't want to be late to a party that's becoming more compelling for tech giants.

In addition to Apple, other tech companies are also investing big in automotive expansion, including Xiaomi and Huawei. So far, Google is sticking with software and services, while Microsoft decided to focus on the cloud side with no plans to launch a stand-alone vehicle built from scratch.