Is Apple Biting More Than it Can Chew, in the Automotive Tech World?

A car isn't just a tin can on wheels that gets you from point A to point B anymore, and Apple is seeing to that immediately as it plans to design cars that are as technologically sophisticated as many of the apps and i-phones that the company produces.

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, spoke on Monday at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ.D live event, where he incited significant curiosity about the future of cars to come. Whilst not going into specific details, he did relay the sentiment that technology was going to not just evolutionise the car, but cause massive changes in the way people will look at their cars as more than just a means of transport.

Cook explained, “When I look at the automobile, I see that software becomes an incredibly important component of the car”. This is the case not just in the move towards autonomous driving, but its dependence on the traditional combustion engine, and incorporating the use of apps, that will enhance the driving experience.

However, beyond that insight, Cook didn’t expand much further, saying that they’ve been considering many options for development where “Our model is to reduce that list to a few. We will see what we do in the future”.

Apple’s move into automotive technology is keeping it abreast with its main competitor, Google, in a race towards developing the first road legal autonomous car. While Tesla has sent an Autopilot upgrade to all owners of the Model S, with features that include auto steer, auto lane change and auto park.