Photo: Rivian
Apple's Project Titan has seen another setback, with the company's first car delayed by two more years. This caused some of the top engineers working on the project to consider other challenges. Rivian appears to be the primary beneficiary.
If there's one company that many thought would wipe the floor with Tesla besides legacy carmakers, that should be Apple. With its design-oriented products and its fame of re-inventing things, not to mention its bustling coffers, Apple seemed perfect to wow everyone with a revolutionary car. Apple started relatively early on this road, with the first rumors about its car project surfacing roughly a decade ago. Back then, Tesla launched the Model S and worked to bring the Model X to market.
If Apple had been serious about launching a car, it should've been mass-produced by now. However, what became known as Project Titan has been nothing but a disappointment for the Cupertino company. Apple seems like a parody of what it once was, unable to innovate anything and still content to produce slightly modified copies of the iPhone 11 five years after the initial debut. Whatever the reason for this stagnation, it's already putting a mark on the Apple Car project, which is bleeding talent.
New rumors about Project Titan's progress indicate a further delay beyond the previous 2026 timeline. The earliest we could see an Apple Car is now 2028, although the market for it might not exist by then. It's easy to imagine the frustration of some of the greatest minds working on the project. A week ago, Apple's Head of Product, Mobility, and Automotive Services, Jonas Reinke, departed for Rivian. He also worked for Porsche in the past, thus being a key engineer for the Apple Car project.
Jonas Reinke is now Vice President of Product Management at Rivian. He will contribute to launching the next lines of EVs, starting with the R2. Reinke is not the only Apple engineer departing the company to join Rivian. DJ Novotney, another key Apple Car engineer who has worked on Project Titan from the beginning, is an even more significant loss. In light of recent delays, Novotney was reassigned to work on future home devices, a move he now appears to resent.
At Rivian, he will oversee the EV startup's entire vehicle program, effective immediately. Novotney will lead product management for products and engineering as one of about a dozen Rivian's senior vice presidents. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe assumed this role after Nick Kalayjian announced his departure in November 2023. Now, Novotney is expected to take on many of Kalayjian's responsibilities and report directly to Scaringe.
Apple has been bleeding talent for the past two years, not just those working on the car project. Tang Tan, Apple's vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, is also leaving next month, while hardware technologies leader Steve Hotelling left the company late last year. Since mid-2022, Apple has lost dozens of high-ranking executives, the most in its history.
If Apple had been serious about launching a car, it should've been mass-produced by now. However, what became known as Project Titan has been nothing but a disappointment for the Cupertino company. Apple seems like a parody of what it once was, unable to innovate anything and still content to produce slightly modified copies of the iPhone 11 five years after the initial debut. Whatever the reason for this stagnation, it's already putting a mark on the Apple Car project, which is bleeding talent.
New rumors about Project Titan's progress indicate a further delay beyond the previous 2026 timeline. The earliest we could see an Apple Car is now 2028, although the market for it might not exist by then. It's easy to imagine the frustration of some of the greatest minds working on the project. A week ago, Apple's Head of Product, Mobility, and Automotive Services, Jonas Reinke, departed for Rivian. He also worked for Porsche in the past, thus being a key engineer for the Apple Car project.
Jonas Reinke is now Vice President of Product Management at Rivian. He will contribute to launching the next lines of EVs, starting with the R2. Reinke is not the only Apple engineer departing the company to join Rivian. DJ Novotney, another key Apple Car engineer who has worked on Project Titan from the beginning, is an even more significant loss. In light of recent delays, Novotney was reassigned to work on future home devices, a move he now appears to resent.
At Rivian, he will oversee the EV startup's entire vehicle program, effective immediately. Novotney will lead product management for products and engineering as one of about a dozen Rivian's senior vice presidents. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe assumed this role after Nick Kalayjian announced his departure in November 2023. Now, Novotney is expected to take on many of Kalayjian's responsibilities and report directly to Scaringe.
Apple has been bleeding talent for the past two years, not just those working on the car project. Tang Tan, Apple's vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, is also leaving next month, while hardware technologies leader Steve Hotelling left the company late last year. Since mid-2022, Apple has lost dozens of high-ranking executives, the most in its history.
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