Apple Demands LiDAR Equipment with ‘Revolutionary Design’ for Apple Car

Apple has been in talks with several LiDAR manufacturers to negotiate potential supply contracts for its self-driving car initiative, according to a new report.

Specifically, Apple is looking to secure LiDAR units that are “smaller, cheaper and more easily mass produced” than current solutions, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. They, however, declined to name which manufacturers Apple met with.

Those current solutions, which use light to render images of the area around a vehicle, are apparently too expensive, “bulky” and “prone to failure” for mass-produced autonomous vehicles. Apple, for its part, is looking to set a “high bar with demands for a ‘revolutionary design,’” one of Reuters’ sources said.

Apple is also said to be working on its own proprietary LiDAR system. The company has patents on LiDAR systems, but it isn’t clear how far along it is on their development.

In any case, Reuters points out that the talks with LiDAR suppliers are just another piece of evidence that suggests Apple is continuing its work in the self-driving car sphere.

But while we know that Apple is working on autonomous vehicular technology, no one is quite sure what for. Conflicting reports have suggested that the company is either focused on the underlying self-driving systems or an actual, physical Apple Car.

Whether an Apple-designed car is coming or not, Reuters does note that the tech giant seems particularly interested in controlling the “perception stack” of self-driving vehicles.

In other words, it’s focused on the suite of sensors, computers and software required to make an autonomous vehicle work — “regardless of who makes the vehicle.”

As part of the effort to make LiDAR systems cheaper, Apple has been looking at solutions made with semiconductor manufacturing techniques. That’s an area of expertise it’s already familiar with and would have the added benefit of potentially slashing the production costs of LiDAR.

On the other hand, Reuters’ sources say that Apple has not been happy with what it has seen so far. Still, the new report, along with past rumors, helps to paint a somewhat clearer picture of what Apple has in mind.

Apple has made a handful of high-profile hires related to its so-called Project Titan self-driving car initiative. But Project Titan has seen its own set of roadblocks, including a recent series of layoffs related to restructuring.

The company does field one of the largest fleets of self-driving vehicles on the streets of California. But it isn’t clear whether an Apple Car, or a “carOS” system, is coming.

It’s also unclear when we’ll see Apple make any sort of major announcements related to the automobile industry, but well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has forecasted that the earliest we should expect an unveiling is between 2023 to 2025.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]