We have been rumors almost daily for a few weeks now about a possible «Apple Car»That the Cupertino company has in mind. And when the river sounds, water carries. It is clear that something is brewing in Apple Park.
Now the news has come out that Apple is looking for a supplier that is capable of manufacturing a special LiDAR scanner for an autonomous car. A new rumor to make the river sound louder.
Bloomberg has published this week that Apple is looking for a supplier for a somewhat special component. A LiDAR scanner like those used in the iPhone 12 and iPad Pro, but to the beast. For riding in a self-driving electric car. Almost nothing.
The report explains that Apple Park engineers are in active discussions with a number of potential suppliers of sensors based on laser technology that will enable a car's processor to be capable of see and understand their surroundings, according to their anonymous sources.
Like other companies that have autonomous vehicle projects, such as Google's Waymo and GM's Cruise, Apple is planning to use the technology. LiDAR, which you already know.
Tesla instead he believes that the best is a computer vision system based on conventional cameras that includes training his AI with large amounts of data from his customers. It ensures that Apple, Waymo, GM Cruise and others will depend on the HD LiDAR maps that are being created for their vehicles to use.
It is very clear that there is still a long way to go before the autonomous vehicle be a reality. But the truth is that there are already many large companies that are investigating in the same line, and it is only a matter of time and money. If they have proposed it, they will surely succeed.