Photo: Big Motoring World
Just like Google, Apple is betting big on its mapping service, so the company has a large fleet of cars whose role is to capture street-level imagery and help provide up-to-date and more accurate data to users across the world.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is using white Subaru Imprezas equipped with advanced tech, such as LiDAR scanners, super-high-resolution cameras, iPads, and Macs for processing the data. All cars come with special branding to indicate what you’re looking at is an Apple Maps car.
And since an actual Apple car is still nowhere to be seen, such an Impreza is pretty much the closest you can get. And as it turns out, you can be the one taking home such an Apple car for the right price.
That's because dealerships across the United Kingdom are now selling fleets of white Subaru Impreza models that were reportedly part of Apple’s stock.
While the cars come without the said Apple branding, these Subarus look identical to the ones used by the company for capturing Apple Maps data, and the cited report speculates they’ve been used for at least 12 months in the United Kingdom.
The Imprezas didn’t belong to Apple directly, as the tech firm just leased them from Arval. So theoretically, you’re not buying an Apple car per se, but one that was only used by the iPhone maker to capture data for Apple Maps.
Make no mistake, none of these Subarus come with the latest-generation technology that Apple used for capturing and processing the street-level imagery.
As for the price, Britons can buy an ex-Apple Maps car for approximately £15,000 (this is approximately $19,600 for our American readers) if they choose a 2019 Impreza with a 1.6-liter engine, an automatic transmission, and just a little over 5,000 miles (8,050 km) on the clock. Of course, all cars are right-hand drive since they’ve been used by Apple in the United Kingdom.
And since an actual Apple car is still nowhere to be seen, such an Impreza is pretty much the closest you can get. And as it turns out, you can be the one taking home such an Apple car for the right price.
That's because dealerships across the United Kingdom are now selling fleets of white Subaru Impreza models that were reportedly part of Apple’s stock.
While the cars come without the said Apple branding, these Subarus look identical to the ones used by the company for capturing Apple Maps data, and the cited report speculates they’ve been used for at least 12 months in the United Kingdom.
The Imprezas didn’t belong to Apple directly, as the tech firm just leased them from Arval. So theoretically, you’re not buying an Apple car per se, but one that was only used by the iPhone maker to capture data for Apple Maps.
Make no mistake, none of these Subarus come with the latest-generation technology that Apple used for capturing and processing the street-level imagery.
As for the price, Britons can buy an ex-Apple Maps car for approximately £15,000 (this is approximately $19,600 for our American readers) if they choose a 2019 Impreza with a 1.6-liter engine, an automatic transmission, and just a little over 5,000 miles (8,050 km) on the clock. Of course, all cars are right-hand drive since they’ve been used by Apple in the United Kingdom.
Google News