[andrewia]

I know somebody on the project. The cancellation makes sense, they were years from release and every new VP pivoted the project and lost progress. If they had committed to their original project (a bus) or the first revision (a very high-end car) they could have released on a timely schedule. But they're far too late to the game.

[nicce]

> But they're far too late to the game.

Not so sure about that. You need battery and 4 x electric motors to wheels.

The idea is much simpler than regular combustion engine car. Less parts that wear out.

Idea is actually so simple that all the manufactures compete on putting as much nonsense into cars as possible, insted of making easily replaceable battery and car which would last 50 years and accelerate like Ferrari.

[gtirloni]

If it's so simple why don't we see regional manufacturers popping everywhere?

[pie420]

We do. Rivian(illinois), Fiskar (Los angeles), VINFast (vietnam), 20 chinese brands, Polestar (china), Lucid (saudi arabia), Canoo, Rimac (balkans).

When was the last time a new car company was started, pre-EV?

[sitkack]

Saturn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Corporation

And it wasn't entirely independent. Before that it was DeLorean? But he was kinda setup in a trap that put him into prison.

[nashashmi]

During the hayday, we saw new companies come up with new cars all the time!!! And then they slowly went belly up. Part of me thinks that the endless number of regulations prohibited new car companies from entering.

You can import a car from china in a crate that fits on the back of a pickup. But it won’t be legal on roads until it gets things like a DOT approved windshield.

[baal80spam]

Apple-bus (iBus?). Now that sounds glorious.

[jncfhnb]

Now demanding 30% of revenue from the businesses they take you too!

[tootie]

I think Apple's power has always been to make unpopular things be suddenly cool. They could have aimed a bit lower and made some kind of urban transport a al e-bikes or Segways only more Apple. It's a market niche that was available and close to their strengths.

[wodenokoto]

The original VW Bus reimagined in Apples design language would totally make me consider a bus.

[dimator]

that's kind of what we're getting soon: https://www.vw.com/en/models/id-buzz.html

it's no longer concept.

[wodenokoto]

Soon? I thought it was for sale. I'm pretty sure I saw a model _with_ price in Dubai show room.

[jurgemaister]

There are many on the roads in Norway. They've sold 5k of the cargo version so far here.

[jeffrallen]

They are a few on the road in Switzerland. I see one once a week or so.

[a1o]

This is a bit sad though, a car is something more palpable than AI, I prefer Apple hardware than software. I was curious about what they would bring in this space. I can't find anything I could imagine being interesting of they bringing in AI space.

[Raptor22]

> original project (a bus)

This is actually insane to me. Like bonkers, even. The MBA types are surely the source of that idea. From a brand perspective, the only car that ever truly made sense for Apple to make was something at least resembling a supercar. They could have made do with a Telsa Model S kind of car perhaps, but I'm shocked that a brand-conscious company like Apple thought a bus was the best bet as an initial product.

First impressions are vitally important. In my opinion, a car brand can go from making high performance cars to more "practical" vehicles once they've established their brand, but not the other way around. Slapping an Apple badge on a Corolla isn't going to work. Steve Jobs said it best, paraphrasing "We want to build computers that customers would want to lick.". If Apple wants to be a legitimate car company that enthusiasts like, they'd have to build a car those people would lick. Not a bus...

[microtherion]

For Apple to make a bus would have been extremely poetic, given that Steve Jobs sold his VW Bus to get the funds to start Apple in the first place: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/steve-jobs-sold-volkswagen-bu...

[p1necone]

Everything Apple makes is ultimately still meant to be practical. I feel like the Apple car would be more like "Corolla, but very high end, and 3x the price" rather than a supercar.

[frankfrank13]

Why a supercar? The apple watch (except the v1 "edition") was never going to compete with luxury watches. Airpods Max are in the higher end of consumer headphones, but a downright bargain compared to "luxury" headphones. Apple doing a lux-lite iteration of a common consumer good makes way more sense.

[buffington]

I agree with your thoughts about the bus, but I started thinking about how many car brands started out selling practical cars, and now have, if not supercars, very high end sports cars - it's a lot of them. It's also kind of how Apple has done stuff in the past. They've marketed their "lesser" products by also making sexy, "pro" products. They could have easily done the same here. Release a practical, functional, Apple product, stuffed with Apple's attention to detail, followed up with the supercar. The keynote would look just like any Macbook lineup update, with the $20k model saved for the end.

But a bus? Yeah, that's just weird.

[semireg]

My long held feeling: A fleet of autonomous busses traveling predetermined inter/intra-city routes. Think, greyhound replacement. They were never going to be operated by humans.

[elsonrodriguez]

A bus achieves what with some morality the profit other manufacturers seek via in-car purchases. GM, Rivian, and Tesla don’t want CarPlay for that reason.

A bus network would provide recurring revenue for the actual thing a vehicle is for, instead of DLC headlight patterns.

[zemo]

Apple’s take on the VW Bus would be very on-brand imho

[recursive]

That's not a bus though.