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I keep thinking that the ‘car’ project is just one of apple’s many experiments to find/figure out a product but this one is hard to keep invisible because they

I keep thinking that the ‘car’ project is just one of apple’s many experiments to find/figure out a product but this one is hard to keep invisible because they need more physical space for it. So nobody really knows what it is but you get these glimpses. It must be extremely frustrating that they can’t contain it as they did with the smaller hardware.

MontyCarloHall 5y ago
Surely they could’ve done a better job? Test any hardware that cannot be concealed in a secret underground garage, and hardware that can be concealed (e.g. self-driving systems) in cars that look like their streetview vans, which are already bristling with sensors.
gtirloni 5y ago
How's it frustrating to you personally? I don't get it.
- usui 5y ago
  The person isn't saying it's personally frustrating. The person is saying that it must be frustrating for the people in charge or involved with the project, such as an executive who directs the project but then gets poached by Ford.
  - gtirloni 5y ago
    Oh, I just re-read the comment and I get it now ("it must be..."). Thanks, and sorry.
yellow_lead 5y ago
Is it really because of the physical size of the car? I rather think they're unable to keep it secret because of the large amounts of specialized hiring, supply chain talks, etc
- ABeeSea 5y ago
  It’s like Amazon’s Fire Phone in 2012/13 on steroids. So much smoke, so much hiring, so much supply chain rumor. It’s definitely real and something impossible to hide.
paxys 5y ago
IMO people's fascination with tech secrecy is also waning in recent years. Apple's "one more thing" reveals used to get worldwide press, now people prefer Elon tweeting Tesla & SpaceX's hardware and software prototypes literally years before launch.
- Isthatablackgsd 5y ago
  TBF, it is not because of the tech secrecy. It is more of they don't have a new toys to show, I mean something that stands out. Tesla and SpaceX are new and those toys that the public want to see. They want to see progress, they don't want to see same old things.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    In other words, smartphones and peripherals are become boring now.
    - rusk 5y ago
      Commoditised, you might say.
jillesvangurp 5y ago
Apple has been flirting with this topic for quite long and are obviously not succeeding in hitting a formula that makes sense for them, which would be a mass produced premium priced vehicle that people with too much money would prefer over the likes of expensive sports cars, teslas, and what not. It's both obvious and stupendously hard if you've never produced a car before. Tesla is basically the Apple of cars already. They raised the bar quit high for Apple to break into that market and not look like an also ran type product (i.e. like most of Tesla's competition right now). Rumor has it they were talking to Kia at some point. That does not instill a lot of confidence. Fine cars, but sort of the equivalent of the beige boxes that Apple once competed against when IBM PCs were a thing. Munro did a review on a Kia the other day and the lack of enthusiasm for it was quite obvious. It's not that it was a bad car (he actually liked it, just not for himself) but just a bit boring, bland, and cheap. Alright if that's what you can afford. But kind of not the market Apple is after. Partnering with Kia would be the equivalent of letting Compaq or Dell take care of producing the imac in 1999. It took Steve Jobs to figure out that mess. Better beige boxes weren't the answer and he pretty much axed that first thing into his second round at Apple and rebooted what is now the most valuable company on the planet. You can see the dilemma here. They basically lack internal skills/knowledge for building a car manufacturing operation and partnering is alien to them. So, how do you create a car with a screen and some fancy Apple experience when you've basically never build a car and your entire vision revolves around what's on that screen? Perhaps they should just outright buy their own car company and get it over with. They are certainly rich enough and there's no lack of suitable companies struggling to survive but yet still competent enough to innovate. I'm surprised they haven't already. Allegedly, they opted out of acquiring Tesla when they had the chance.
- qaq 5y ago
  Look @ https://www.genesis.com/us/en/2022/genesis-gv70.html https://www.genesis.com/us/en/2022/genesis-gv70.html & Tesla I would hardly call gv70 a beige box compared to Tesla Y
  - jillesvangurp 5y ago
    That's exactly what it looks like to me though. I guess tastes are different. But it to me just looks like a generic Chrysler style vehicle with a lot of chrome and bulk to make it look like a more premium kind of thing than it is. Poor Steve Jobs would turn his grave. I was talking about the Kia Niro, which is one of their EVs. I doubt Apple would waste time on ICE vehicles (which the genesis obviously is). But you are right that Teslas are kind of bland in their own right.

MontyCarloHall 5y ago

Surely they could’ve done a better job? Test any hardware that cannot be concealed in a secret underground garage, and hardware that can be concealed (e.g. self-driving systems) in cars that look like their streetview vans, which are already bristling with sensors.

gtirloni 5y ago

How's it frustrating to you personally? I don't get it.

usui 5y ago
The person isn't saying it's personally frustrating. The person is saying that it must be frustrating for the people in charge or involved with the project, such as an executive who directs the project but then gets poached by Ford.
- gtirloni 5y ago
  Oh, I just re-read the comment and I get it now ("it must be..."). Thanks, and sorry.

yellow_lead 5y ago

Is it really because of the physical size of the car? I rather think they're unable to keep it secret because of the large amounts of specialized hiring, supply chain talks, etc

ABeeSea 5y ago
It’s like Amazon’s Fire Phone in 2012/13 on steroids. So much smoke, so much hiring, so much supply chain rumor. It’s definitely real and something impossible to hide.

paxys 5y ago

IMO people's fascination with tech secrecy is also waning in recent years. Apple's "one more thing" reveals used to get worldwide press, now people prefer Elon tweeting Tesla & SpaceX's hardware and software prototypes literally years before launch.

Isthatablackgsd 5y ago
TBF, it is not because of the tech secrecy. It is more of they don't have a new toys to show, I mean something that stands out. Tesla and SpaceX are new and those toys that the public want to see. They want to see progress, they don't want to see same old things.
- fomine3 5y ago
  In other words, smartphones and peripherals are become boring now.
  - rusk 5y ago
    Commoditised, you might say.

jillesvangurp 5y ago

Apple has been flirting with this topic for quite long and are obviously not succeeding in hitting a formula that makes sense for them, which would be a mass produced premium priced vehicle that people with too much money would prefer over the likes of expensive sports cars, teslas, and what not. It's both obvious and stupendously hard if you've never produced a car before. Tesla is basically the Apple of cars already. They raised the bar quit high for Apple to break into that market and not look like an also ran type product (i.e. like most of Tesla's competition right now). Rumor has it they were talking to Kia at some point. That does not instill a lot of confidence. Fine cars, but sort of the equivalent of the beige boxes that Apple once competed against when IBM PCs were a thing. Munro did a review on a Kia the other day and the lack of enthusiasm for it was quite obvious. It's not that it was a bad car (he actually liked it, just not for himself) but just a bit boring, bland, and cheap. Alright if that's what you can afford. But kind of not the market Apple is after. Partnering with Kia would be the equivalent of letting Compaq or Dell take care of producing the imac in 1999. It took Steve Jobs to figure out that mess. Better beige boxes weren't the answer and he pretty much axed that first thing into his second round at Apple and rebooted what is now the most valuable company on the planet. You can see the dilemma here. They basically lack internal skills/knowledge for building a car manufacturing operation and partnering is alien to them. So, how do you create a car with a screen and some fancy Apple experience when you've basically never build a car and your entire vision revolves around what's on that screen? Perhaps they should just outright buy their own car company and get it over with. They are certainly rich enough and there's no lack of suitable companies struggling to survive but yet still competent enough to innovate. I'm surprised they haven't already. Allegedly, they opted out of acquiring Tesla when they had the chance.

qaq 5y ago
Look @ https://www.genesis.com/us/en/2022/genesis-gv70.html https://www.genesis.com/us/en/2022/genesis-gv70.html & Tesla I would hardly call gv70 a beige box compared to Tesla Y
- jillesvangurp 5y ago
  That's exactly what it looks like to me though. I guess tastes are different. But it to me just looks like a generic Chrysler style vehicle with a lot of chrome and bulk to make it look like a more premium kind of thing than it is. Poor Steve Jobs would turn his grave. I was talking about the Kia Niro, which is one of their EVs. I doubt Apple would waste time on ICE vehicles (which the genesis obviously is). But you are right that Teslas are kind of bland in their own right.