Once again, Apple watchers (not to be confused with Apple Watches) are getting giddy about the concept of an Apple car. Every so often this prospect gets some traction, in part because of Steve Jobs and Jony Ive’s appreciation for cars. There was some work with Volkswagon, dubbed the iBeetle, but that was more of a branding promotion. The reason people think Apple might be making its own car, now, is that they have been trying to poach employees from Tesla. This is hardly a reason to draw such conclusions, however.
I had the opportunity to drive a Tesla about a year ago, at the MacTech Conference. At the time, the Tesla representatives were referring to the Model S as “the iPad of cars” and they clearly appreciated Apple. The Tesla has a 17-inch touchscreen console that acts like a supersized iPad, so there are a lot of similarities. Neither firm invented the business they are in. Computers existed and cars existed before each company jumped in. But they both have tried to start from scratch and define what the modern version should be. Tablets, smartphones, adn music players all existed before Apple, but Apple rethought the way they should be built, and has had a lot of success.
I think that shared philosophy is the compelling reason for Apple to recruit from Tesla. They “think different,” just as Steve Jobs encouraged Apple employees to do. But to try to create an actual Apple car would be a major diversion. It’s far more likely that any ex-Tesla engineers would work on Apple’s CarPlay implementation. This is demonstrated by the fact that Apple still hasn’t shipped an actual Apple TV instead of just a box that connects to traditional TVs. I would look for an Apple-branded TV before a car. There are a lot more areas of overlap in such a big screen, whereas a car is way out of their wheelhouse.
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