Apple has set itself the target of having an autonomous car ready to ship by 2019.
Apple’s autonomous car project, codenamed ‘Titan’, will rival an array of tech and automotive brands upon its launch, including Mercedes and Google.
The iPhone giant has been working with driverless technology for some time now, with reports that it has recruited great minds from the automotive world to assist in the project, such as former Volkswagen engineer Megan McClain and a senior engineer from Tesla Motors.
As Apple is committed to hitting its 2019 target, there are reports that it will be tripling its 600 person team to ramp up development. Although 2019 has been designated as a shipping date, that does not necessarily mean it will be available to consumers at that time.
The level of autonomous sophistication with regards to Apple’s upcoming driverless vehicle is still unknown. Like many other vehicles on the market, such as the Honda CR-V and its lane-keeping technology, Apple’s new vehicle may just feature aspects of autonomous technology, but may not be fully independent.
Even though there are several companies pioneering driverless technology, Google is by far Apple’s biggest threat, as the Android-touting brand has been testing autonomous vehicles on public roads since 2012.
