Automotive

Senior Director of Design for Mac lineup leaves Apple for engineering role at Tesla

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2017

Apple was trying “very hard” (in Elon Musk's own words) to recruit top talent from Tesla.

Now that its Project Titan has shifted gear from building an electric vehicle to developing an autonomous driving software, some of the engineers associated with the initiative have departed for Tesla.

Just as we've discovered that Swift creator Chris Lattner was leaving the iPhone maker to take a position as Vice President of Autopilot Software at Tesla, Electrek.co is reporting that the guy who designed many of Apple’s iconic Macs will now be building Tesla vehicles.

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Apple poached race car engineer from Porsche

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2016

Earlier this year, Apple poached Alexander Hitzinger, the former technical director of Porsche's race car program who helped the car maker return to the Le Mans endurance race, a company source told Reuters last Friday. The move was first reported by Germany's Manager Magazin.

Volkswagen-owned Porsche officially confirmed Hitzinger had left the luxury carmaker in the spring, but didn't share any further information.

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Blackberry opens brand new autonomous driving research center in Ottawa, Canada

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2016

Following its decision to exit the smartphone hardware business and focus on software, Blackberry today opened a new research and development center in Ottawa, Canada. The facility is dedicated to the development of autonomous driving software. According to Reuters, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the launch.

The facility is being run by Blackberry subsidiary QNX, which makes advanced driver assistance and autonomous vehicle technology used by car makers worldwide.

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Apple has been quietly poaching engineers from automotive mapping company Here

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2016

Over the past few months, Apple has been quietly hiring engineers away from Here, a Berlin-based automotive mapping company, for mapping jobs in Berlin. Interestingly, Apple's never publicly confirmed that it has an office in Berlin.

According to LinkedIn profiles discovered by Business Insider, Apple's poached at least half a dozen employees from Here, jointly owned by German car makers Audi, BMW and Daimler.

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ChargePoint electric vehicle stations added to Apple Maps with Apple Pay support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 11, 2024

ChargePoint operates the world’s largest electric vehicle charging network. As of today, ChargePoint's electric vehicle stations in the U.S. can be found through Apple Maps, as reported by 9to5Mac. And because ChargePoint accepts Apple Pay, users can even initiate charging via Apple Maps and complete their payment with a touch of a finger.

ChargePoint locations appear on the map as badges that can be tapped to reveal information like business hours, pricing, whether or not they accept Apple Pay at that particular location and more.

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McLaren confirms it was in talks with Apple that never “matured to a definitive proposition”

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 2, 2017

Back in September, The Financial Times, The New York Times and Bloomberg ran reports that Apple was considering either a full takeover bid or at least a large investment in the British supercar maker McLaren Automotive. A potential acquisition was valued at between $1.3 billion and $1.9 billion though McLaren later said it was “not in discussion with Apple in respect of any potential investment.”

Saturday, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt confirmed in an interview with Reuters that his company did hold talks with Apple after all, but said the discussions never progressed towards a definitive proposition.

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Bloomberg: Apple gives up building a car, for now

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2016

Project Titan, Apple's ambitious initiative to build an electric vehicle by 2020-2021 reportedly fell apart amid management crisis, supply chain issues and departures, prompting the company's leadership to shift gears and focus on autonomous self-driving software, for now.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported Monday that Apple will decide fate of self-driving software by late 2017 as the new direction no longer includes building its own car.

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Here are Gene Munster’s latest musings on Project Titan & Apple VR headset

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 20, 2016

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster had been infamously predicting an Apple-branded HDTV set for years before eventually giving up on that dream. Last we heard from him was when he called for an S-upgrade to the Apple Watch in February 2016 (he may have gotten that one right; the timing, not so much).

He's back now with some interesting thoughts (via AppleWorldToday) on Apple's rumored electric vehicle and assumed virtual reality headset hardware.

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Sony announces $499 aftermarket CarPlay audio system, arriving in November

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 19, 2016

If you mind buying a brand spanking new car just to get CarPlay, aftermarket solutions from Pioneer, Alpine and Kenwood allow you to add Apple's in-car infotainment system to older vehicles.

Now Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony has unveiled its first-ever in-car audio system with CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

It sports high-fidelity sound and includes voice command features, Siri integration with support for Maps, Music and iMessage features, plus other perks.

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Small Korean firm rumored to co-develop advanced hollow batteries for Project Titan

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 9, 2016

Apple's rumored electric (autonomous?) vehicle, internally referred to as Project Titan, should use custom-designed batteries developed by engineers that Apple poached from A123 Systems, the makers of advanced batteries. According to a new report Tuesday, Apple has now tapped scientists and engineers from a small, unnamed South Korean firm to help co-develop hollow battery packs for Project Titan.

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