Apple Car Tops U.S. Consumers’ Wish List Despite the Company Shifting Focus Away from It

An Apple Car may be at the top of the Cupertino wish list for U.S. consumers, according to a new survey — but they might not receive exactly that.

Baird, an international investment bank, conducted an online survey of 3,000 U.S.-based consumers. Of that number, 21.6 percent of respondents — the largest share — said that they would like to see Cupertino develop and make a vehicle, according to Investor’s Business Daily.

The other results of the Baird survey can be seen below.

• Coming in second, at 19.5 percent, was an Apple branded Netflix-like streaming service.
• The third-largest group, 16.1 percent, wants Apple to release its own virtual reality headset (something that Apple is actually rumored to do in the near future).
• In fourth place, 16 percent said they wanted Apple to create an advanced wearable healthcare device.
• Around 11.7 percent said they wanted an Apple-branded smart home device like the Amazon Echo.
• And finally, 9.9 percent said they want a device that could replace their cable boxes with live internet video streaming.

As for the possibility of an Apple car, the company has long been rumored to be working on its own self-driving electric vehicle in a secretive project codenamed Titan, despite never publicly announcing the program. Even with the secrecy, we’ve learned over the past year that Titan has hit a series of roadblocks and setbacks that snarled development, eventually lead to a series of layoffs and an apparent “reboot” of the project.

Since then, Apple has apparently shifted its focus away from actually manufacturing its own car to developing the underlying software, hardware and technology that would make such a vehicle possible. In essence, building a “self-driving system” rather than a self-driving car — a so-called “carOS.”

We don’t know much about this alleged carOS, but KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo believes that it will include augmented reality technology. Reportedly, Apple has been testing carOS — or something similar — at a facility in Ottawa, Canada since October. Their deadline for completing a car operating system? By the end of 2017, reportedly.

So while we may not get to drive an actual Apple-branded car anytime soon, we might be able to see Cupertino’s handiwork in a vehicle sooner than later.