Apple has been cagey about its plans to develop self-driving cars, but on Friday, we finally got a look at what the company’s prototype technology looks like.
The vehicle is a white Lexus RX450h SUV, according to a source who spotted it outside of Apple’s Cupertino headquarters and sent word to Bloomberg reporters Mark Bergen and Alex Webb.
The Lexus appears to have a number of cameras and sensors, including a roof-mounted Velodyne LIDAR unit. It looks like a hodgepodge of external sensor rigs and a few cameras that have been molded into the Lexus’s body, which is consistent with reports that Apple is focusing on self-driving technology before an actual Apple iCar.
Apple’s goal of building its own set of self-driving technology to attach to other vehicles is much in the same vein of Waymo, Uber, and Mobileye’s efforts, unlike Tesla, which is building both car and autonomous systems as one. Thanks to California DMV records, we know that Apple is definitely going to test its software in augmented vehicles on the Golden State’s roads, but until now, we haven’t been able to get a look. So far, there’s nothing extraordinary or groundbreaking, but it certainly looks like Apple is firmly in the game with the rest.
