Apple CEO Tim Cook’s recent carefully-worded comments shed some light on Apple’s vision for autonomous cars

Apple has become synonymous with innovation. From the Macintosh to the iPhone, they push product design forward, and competitors often have to scramble to keep up. Like any smart trailblazer, their design ideas are clouded in secrecy until release. But, they drop clues along the way. In addition to Apple’s 2019 acquisition of the self-driving startup Drive.ai, Tim Cook’s recent interview hints at Apple’s current work in the automotive industry.

The interview

In a recent interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook focused on their soon-to-be released App Tracking Transparency (ATT) iPhone update, but - after admitting he was “going to be a little coy” - he also shared some of his thoughts on the self-driving car and the approach the company might take. After listening to the whole thing, we can be fairly confident that Apple is investing heavily in the rumored “Apple Car” or something similar.

Cook stated that, in his view, the “autonomy itself is a core technology.” He compared the autonomous car to a robot and emphasized that there are “lots of things you can do with autonomy.” 

When asked whether Apple is looking into developing their own cars, or would instead focus on creating technologies for other self-driving cars, Cook declined to give a specific answer. “We love to integrate hardware, software, and services,” Cook replied, “and find the intersection points of those because we think that’s where the magic occurs.”

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the podcast was when Cook reiterated that “we love to own the primary technology that’s around [the intersection of hardware, software and services].” So, beyond their purchase of Drive.ai, those of us eagerly anticipating the prospect of an Apple car may see additional Apple acquisitions in the industry.

Cash to play with

Tim Cook also expressed his admiration for Elon Musk, saying the Tesla had “done an unbelievable job” not only in becoming the EV market leader, but also in maintaining that position.

However, with over $195 billion in cash on hand, Apple has an advantage over Tesla. Apple has incredible resources it can dedicate to testing, moving forward with promising strategies and discarding others. And, Cook’s comments on Apple’s trial-and-error process seem to suggest that the Apple Car has passed the stage of being just an experiment. When asked about the possibility of the Apple Car actually happening, Tim Cook said:

Apple is one of the few companies that lives out refinement and innovation on a large scale. Every product that makes it to launch is meticulously perfected and planned. If Apple feels they have a place in the automotive industry, they must posses some ground-breaking innovation that could change the way we interact with our cars. We’ll have to wait, likely a number of years, to see what Apple has in store. But, when inside sources describe it as “like the first time you saw the iPhone,” we anxiously await the fruit company’s automotive offering.