Rumors have been flying unchecked for a while about Apple's launch of an iCar. But what do patents, people and Apple's actions tell us about what it will be like?
The website Electrek claims that Apple's upcoming iCar could be the first to have digital license plates. This claim is likely based on the fact that among all the employees Apple has acquired up over the past few months is Rónán Ó Braonáin, ex-Director of Engineering at Reviver, the start-up that is working on the world's first digital license plate.
Digital license plates could be issued to the driver instead of the car. The iCar's digital license plates would, theoretically, automatically update every time you were driving. The concern for digital license plates not being readable in certain weather conditions, however, still remains.
There are rumours that the iCar will be electric. Considering that numerous ex-employees of Tesla are now working for Apple, and Elon Musk has admitted that Apple is trying to snap their engineers, this does seem likely. Tesla currently manufactures the best electric cars offered on the market, and maybe Apple is trying to do just that.
Mac World reports that WSJ has claimed that the Apple iCar, with a possible release date of 2019, will not be fully autonomous but instead fully electric with some 'smart' features - like emergency braking, cruise control which will manage the accelerator and breaks on motorways and in traffic - and an automatic lane changing system that'll work by flicking an indicator.
Although these features have already been boasted by the latest Tesla Model S P85D - at least in countries where it is legal. Significantly, the Tesla Model S can be beckoned by an Apple Watch - a feature we would expect Apple's iCar to incorporate.
Patents filed by Apple also clue us in to the iCar's features. Cult Of Mac reports that Apple has done just that.
One patent filed in 2011 would let users unlock their cars and start their engines from an iDevice like their iPhones or iPads. Another patent filed in 2009 demonstrates a design with in-car camera technology, which can be speculated to be used to detect hand gestures that could control functions of the car, like locking the car or turning headlights on or off.
There is also an early 2012 patent that lets users set preferences for themselves in a car. While the Range Rover memorizes the driver's favorite seat position in its Sport model, Apple goes one step further and might actually let customers set their own preferences no matter which car they were in, like through the use of their iPhone. Users could then set preferences like seat positions, ideal temperatures and even favorite radio stations.
Then there is a patent that lets users monitor and control car functions based on geofences. It could potentially use the iPhone's geo-location abilities to say unlock your car as you come near it, lock it when you are walking away, and open the trunk when you stand near it, something that would be very useful when your hands are full.
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