Apple Car project reportedly still running into roadblocks — and nearly a jogger

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

It has been a challenge for the company to develop a self- driving car. Today, The Information published a long list of the project's progress. It covers some familiar ground, like a revolving door of leadership, high turnover across the team, and shifting goalposts around what Apple is even trying to accomplish with the large effort. The report includes more than just the project's history.

There are some new details revealed in the information. According to reports, Craig Federighi, Apple's software chief and a key executive at the company, is particularly skeptical of the project. It has been mocked in other parts of Apple due to all the setbacks. According to The Information, Apple has fallen into the problem of demoware, where its test vehicles can perform well on preset routes, but quickly run into issues when navigating unknown territory.

There was an incident earlier this year in which a jogger was hit by a car while crossing the street. The vehicle had to slam the brakes to avoid a collision because it didn't stop to let the pedestrian cross. If not for the human driver intervening, the car would have hit the jogger.

Apple's setbacks have been made worse by the loss of executives who have steered the company's direction at one point or another. Ian Goodfellow left the company due to its return-to-office policies after the departure of Doug Field. Kevin Lynch oversaw the creation of watchOS.

You can expect the Apple Car to be futuristic both inside and out. Apple wants to build a car that doesn't have a steering wheel or brake pedal, according to reports. Jony Ive, an Apple designer who still works with the company, has advised the Project Titan team not to hide their sensors.

According to the Information, the current design has four seats that face inward so passengers can talk to one another and a curved ceiling similar to the roof of a Volkswagen Beetle. The company's designers have discussed large displays that rise from behind those seats and automatically lower when not in use, and the next-gen version of CarPlay that Apple announced at WWDC is likely a preview of what we'll see on those screens.

Apple is rumored to be working on a self-driving car in the next decade. As soon as next year, the company is planning to test a near- final design of the vehicle on public roads.