Apple is accelerating its car development plans, and is now reportedly targeting to launch a fully autonomous vehicle as soon as 2025.
The reason for the optimistic timeline, which is two to five years sooner than Apple engineers were estimating earlier this year, is because the company has reached a key milestone.
According to people familiar with the matter that spoke with Bloomberg, Apple has recently completed development of the processor that will be the brains of the self-driving vehicle.
The sources say the chip is the most advanced the company has ever developed.
But while the chip may be done, Apple still has to solve the problem that no one has been able to yet – full autonomy. If they are to meet the new timeline, they will have to figure it out in just four years.
The company has been working on the Apple Car, known as ‘Project Titan’ since at least 2014.
The design of the car has also not yet been finalized, but if they reach their goal, they are considering leaving out the steering wheel and pedals.
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