Before he died, Apple founder Steve Jobs had wanted to extend his influence and product wizardry to designing a car
In the past few weeks, there’s been a flurry of news over Apple’s automotive ambitions, despite the company’s obvious snags in its new role as an industry supplier. One tech industry insider also suggested last week that Apple buy an existing cutting-edge automaker.
Through the dominance of its portable devices, Apple has, by default, ruled in-car connectivity for almost a decade. Now it seems the company is poised to make an even bigger play in the auto industry.
But while these thoughts probably thrill many Apple aficionados, as a tech journalist, I wouldn’t buy an iCar.
We reported last week that Apple recently filed two car-related patents. One is for a technology that works with Internet-connected parking garages to allow drivers to keep tabs on their cars and be guided back to them. Another allows an iPhone to take the place of a car’s ignition and locking systems, with the option of tailoring settings such as seat position and tuning to favorite radio stations for individual drivers.
It was also reported last week by 9to5 Mac that Apple “plans to move aggressively into the in-car integration space later this year.” According to the website, Apple is working closely with automakers to integrate Apple Maps and Siri voice recognition into cars.
But Siri isn’t news anymore. Apple announced at its World Wide Developer Conference in June 2012 that it was partnering with nine automakers to integrate a feature called Siri EyesFree that would use the “voice assistant” on a connected iPhone.
So far, only Chevrolet has introduced the feature, for the Spark and the Sonic as part of the MyLink system, and it’s also now available on Mercedes-Benz vehicles with the addition of an optional dealer-installed package called Drive Kit Plus. Honda also has said it will integrate the feature later this year, but none of the other automakers Apple named has immediate plans to implement it, according to Wired.com.
In a Bloomberg editorial last week, entrepreneur and early Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya suggested that Apple go way beyond being an automotive supplier and buy Tesla. Palihapitiya said he “would buy an iCar.” But I wouldn’t, even though I own plenty of Apple products.

 

I could easily see apple doing a specific model or edition of the new i3 or i8 stuff from BMW.