Apple halts development of its first car

Apple is no longer making a car of its own, and will instead focus on providing autonomous technology.

Although the final decision has not been announced, a Bloomberg report has revealed that the months of disarray in the project have culminated in Apple changing the goal of the project, while around 1,000 members of the team have either been dismissed or reassigned.

The final outcome of the Apple car project will be decided before the end of 2017. This gives Apple the scope to either design its own vehicle in the future, or start by working with other carmakers, providing its technology to power a car under an existing marque.

Apple and McLaren were previously reported to be in talks, in which, the tech giant was said to be looking into a takeover bid of the UK-based supercar maker. The talks have since closed, and both parties declined to comment on the matter. There has always been a level of secrecy around the commonly called “Apple iCar”, as well as an ongoing trickle of headlines about Apple’s hiring process from Tesla, vice versa, and Faraday Future's hiring from both. This report seemingly puts an end to the rumours surrounding Apple’s first foray into motoring, though.