Apple Car release date: When will the Apple iCar launch?

Apple Car release date: When will the Apple iCar launch?

Once you get over the initial excitement of the iCar speculation, there's one question on everyone's lips - when will it launch?
Of course, until we see Tim Cook on stage announcing the iCar, no one knows for sure. But Bloomberg is among the brave outlets willing to put a time frame on the iCar development, reporting that Apple will release the iCar as soon as 2020. They claim to have spoken to people close to the matter, who say: "Apple, which has been working secretly on a car, is pushing its team to begin production of an electric vehicle as early as 2020."


Automakers usually spend between five and seven years developing a car, which shows Apple's aggressive and demanding goals for its team. Is it gearing up for a battle against GM and Tesla? Both aim to have electric vehicles that travel over 200 miles on a single charge on the market by 2017.

Outspoken Apple analyst and lover of Apple TV rumours Gene Munster reportedly told clients in a note that we shouldn't expect the iCar for at least five years. He believes that a TV will be coming before an iCar, simply because profits are even smaller on cars than they are on TVs - a TV would also make more sense with Apple's hardware/software background, he says.

However with this being said, the WSJ reports that Apple has revised its original plan of a 2020 announcement and is instead aiming for a slightly closer announcement. The report claims that Apple has designated the iCar internally as a "committed project" and is now aiming for a 2019 release date after spending more than a year looking into the feasibility of an Apple-branded car.

Those of you expecting to see an Apple-branded car on the roads in 2019 may be disappointed, as for Apple a 'ship date' doesn't necessarily mean the date that customers can buy the iCar. Instead, it refers to the date that Project Titan engineers will sign off on the iCar's main features. It'll still have to undergo rigorous testing once these features have been signed off before any consumers are able to get their hands on it.