Apple Car Might Not Launch Until 2028 According To Kuo
Apple has pretty much dipped its hands in almost every cookie jar of modern life and technology but there is still one thing it has long been rumored to be working on. Recently, however, rumors about Apple's own-made car have resurfaced again, one of which even claimed a 2021 launch date for the mysterious vehicle. Famed analyst Ming-chi Kuo, however, cautions against such an unreliable report meant to hype up stocks, saying that any Apple Car launch would probably take place sometime between 2025 and 2027 at the earliest.
The Apple Car rumors restarted earlier this month around a supply chain report on how car part manufacturers were rushing to fill orders for an Apple car that would be launching in 2021. Other analysts chimed in with a more cautious 2024 launch, however, and they focused their forecasts on Apple's battery innovation.
TF Securities' Ming-chi Kuo, however, thinks both estimates are far too premature. He hinges his 2025 to 2028 timeline on two factors. The first one, which earlier rumors seem to miss out on, is the lack of any specification or actual suppliers for this rumored Apple Car. The second is that Apple rarely launches something big, especially one as expensive as a car, without having some competitive market advantage.
Kuo thinks that Apple will be banking on software rather than hardware, particularly AI and big data. The company definitely still has a long way to go in developing these elements and 2021 is just way too early to even begin speaking of a launch. The analysts say that 2025 would be the absolute earliest but, given Apple's usual behavior, a more realistic guesstimate would be 2028.
The forecast doesn't exactly discount rumors of Apple's battery innovation. Sources claim that Apple is working on a monocell battery design, in contrast to the ones used in most EVs, that will promise greater densities. Apple will also be putting its experience with other sensors, particularly LIDAR, in equipping its future Apple electric car with the eyes and ears that will feed data to whatever AI system it'll be able to come up with.