Apple Car development loses more managers; autonomous vehicle’s launch not expected until later in the decade

The first half of the year is not over yet, but a new report reveals that the Apple Car development has lost several project leaders in that duration. While the iPhone maker’s plan of making an autonomous vehicle continues, its final product is not expected to enter the market for many years.

‘Several’ Apple Car project leaders reportedly left in recent months

Three Apple Car project managers left the Cupertino, California-based tech giant in the past months. Bloomberg reports that Dave Scott was the latest to exit, who left the development “in recent days” after leading the work on the self-driving car’s robotics.

The same report says Jaime Waydo also left this year before Scott. Waydo led teams working on Apple Car’s safety and regulation. Benjamin Lyon, who was reportedly one of the long-time top leaders of the project, was announced as the new chief engineer for aerospace company Astra last February.

Like Lyon, Scott and Waydo are reportedly taking on bigger roles for other tech companies. Bloomberg said Scott is the new chief executive officer of portable MRI maker Hyperfine, while Waydo becomes the chief technology officer for Cavnue. The company’s website says it is working to “realize the full potential of connected and autonomous vehicles to make roads safer, less congested, shared, and sustainable.”

While losing development managers is usually not a good sign, the report is not ringing a bell of concern about the Apple Car development, internally called Project Titan. Bloomberg noted that Apple has welcomed “notable names,” such as former Tesla executives, to work on the iPhone maker’s self-driving electric vehicle. The tech giant is also reportedly continuing its efforts to acquire more experts and veterans in the automobile industry to join Project Titan.

Apple Car release date is unlikely to happen in years

The timeline of the Apple Car development and production is not publicly known. It is not clear how the changes in the project leaders would affect the autonomous vehicle’s release window.

However, the report estimates the self-driving car is unlikely to launch until the latter part of the decade. That lines up with analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s prediction that the final Apple Car product might not be available until around 2028 or later.

Photo by Guillaume Bleyer on Unsplash