Apple spent $10,000,000,000 over a decade creating a product that will never be released to the public
2,000 employees were disbanded from the project
Whilst many of Apple's innovations are woven into our everyday lives, not every idea from the tech giant has become a hit.
From the latest and greatest iPhones to our nifty AirPods, many of us can't imagine a life without our tech.
However, what a lot of people don't actually know is that Apple once ambitiously ventured into a different field.
In 2014, Apple made efforts to develop an electric, self-driving car that was codenamed 'Project Titan.'
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The tech giant spent $10 billion trying to make the project happen before it was scrapped in 2024.
Initially, Apple aimed to develop an electric car as a rival to Elon Musk's Tesla company. Later on, the company would shift its focus to self-driving technology. In 2015, the car was set to be complete with smart components like Siri and seamless integration with iPhone.
The vehicle was rumoured to come without a steering wheel and pedals.
Then, in late 2021, reports hinted that Apple might officially unveil its car project in 2022, with a potential launch by 2025.
By December 2022, Apple reportedly discontinued its plans to offer full driving autonomy and pushed the release deadline to 2026 at the earliest.
But as time went on, no such plan ever materialised.
And in early 2024, Apple cancelled its California DMV permit for self-driving car testing and officially called it quits.
While the reasons behind the decision to ditch the project remain unclear, some industry insiders believe it all came down to costs.
According to Apple Insider: "The company strives to enter markets with premium versions of products with high margins, and with an electric vehicle, the price would have been astronomical."
Around 2,000 Apple employees were internally informed that Project Titan was being discontinued with many of them moving over to work in the Apple Intelligence division, as per Bloomberg News.
However, 600 employees involved were let go as a result.
A post on Instagram allowed the internet to weigh in and have its say.
“They can afford it from all the money they annually collect from re-releasing the same phone,” one user joked.
“Billion dollars... I guess iPhones is about to cost us $10.00 more so they can make that money back up lol,” another user commented.
Still, the project wasn't a total loss.
The research and technology developed during Project Titan’s decade-long run could be used in other innovations such as robotics and AI.